After his 2019 arrest for allegedly staging a racist hate crime, Jussie Smollett joked that he had other career paths in mind.
The former Empire star was charged by Chicago police just weeks after the February 2019 incident, which led to his suspension from the popular Fox series. Smollett was later sentenced to 150 days in jail and fined $25,000. However, in November 2024, his conviction was overturned, and he instead paid $10,000 and completed community service.
Nearly two months after Netflix dropped The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, the actor sat down for a candid chat on Kandi Burruss’ Speak on It podcast.
Around the one-hour mark of the interview, Burruss asked if he ever feared the 2019 incident would “end” his career.
“Hell yeah. Absolutely. I was looking for other things to do,” Smollett admitted. “I’m just like, ‘Forget this.’”
“I don’t know. I’ll become a tap dancer or a teacher or a nanny—something. An au pair, a governess, you know. I don’t know. A stripper,” Smollett joked. “You know, I got the moves.”
The actor went on to admit that he became “angry at celebrity culture” after the controversy. “It’s just like, ‘This is crap. This is bull. Fame is not real. It is not real,’” he said. “’Cause people telling you that they love you one minute and they don’t love you the next and all of this type of stuff. It was just a lot.”
“So, I certainly thought about [walking away]… but I’m okay with acknowledging that not only do I love doing what I do, but my ego won’t let some bull run me out of my life,” he added.
Smollett has continued to stand by his 2019 claims, telling Variety in an August interview that he’s “never” changed his story.
“Every single other person’s story has changed multiple times. Mine has never. I have nothing to gain from this,” he told the outlet.
