Jussie Smollett Tries to Move Past Legal Woes With Directing Debut ‘B-Boy Blues': ‘I Know How Blessed I Am’

thewrap.com:

a five-month prison sentence in March for lying to Chicago cops about a racist and homophobic 2019 attack. “I know how grateful I must be.

It is not up for debate. I must be grateful. To the universe, to God, to our ancestors, whoever you want to believe it is.”The former “Empire” acknowledged the challenges of making the film — based on the bestselling 1994 novel of the same name from author James Earl Hardy, who co-wrote the script along with Smollett.

In addition to his very public legal drama, he began shooting as COVID-19 began in the U.S. “We did [the movie] in 12 days in the height of the pandemic, among other crazy s— happening with me,” Smollett noted in a Q&A following a screening of the film, which will make its streaming platform debut June 9 on BET+.Days after his March sentencing, Smollett was ordered to be released from jail pending the appeal of his conviction last December on charges that he staged a hate-crime attack against himself in 2019.

Judge James B. Linn stated that the evidence against Smollett was “overwhelming” and that the jury’s verdict in his case was “correct.”On Thursday, legal issues were far from center stage.