The disgraced former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett, who has been convicted on charges related to him staging a hate crime against himself in 2019, is launching his Hollywood comeback with his directorial debut B-Boy Blues, which has been picked up by BET+. 

Smollett’s New Hollywood Project

Entertainment Tonight reported that B-Boy Blues will be hitting the streaming service on June 9 as part of BET+’s Pride Month programming. Smollett reportedly directed and wrote this project, also producing it alongside Mona Scott-Young and her Monami Entertainment, who played a huge role in getting this deal with BET+ done. 

B-Boy Blues was adapted from a novel by James Earl Hardy, and it is described as “a clash of class and culture when Mitchell Crawford, a college educated journalist from Brooklyn and Raheim Rivers, a bike messenger from Harlem, fall in love.” It debuted last year at the 2021 American Black Film Festival, where it won the Narrative Feature Fan Favorite Award. 

Related: Jussie Smollett Demands To Be Released From Jail After Receiving ‘Vicious Threats’

The Smollett-directed project stars Timothy Richardson, Ledisi, Brandee Evans, Heather B, Marquise Vilson, Jabari Redd, Broderick Hunter and Thomas Mackie. Check out a trailer for the project below.

Smollett’s Conviction 

Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months of felony probation back in March after he was convicted on five out of six charges of disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to police about being a victim of a hate crime back in January of 2019.

Smollett claimed at the time that he was jumped by two men who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him while also shouting “this is MAGA country. However, after police investigated, they concluded that Smollett staged the hate crime in the hopes of raising his profile enough to secure a pay raise on his show “Empire.”

Despite all of the evidence against him, Smollett still claims that he is innocent, and his attorneys were able to get him released from Cook County Jail on bond just after he started his sentence while they work on appealing his conviction.

Full Story: Jussie Smollett Released From Jail Six Days Into 150-Day Sentence

‘We Are Very Pleased’

“We are very pleased with the ruling made by the Illinois First District Appellate Court,” Nenye Uche, Smollett’s attorney, said at the time. “We are pleased that sensationalism and politics will be put aside and we can finally have an intellectual discussion about our laws with our esteemed appellate court.” 

“Three years ago, Jussie and the State of Illinois reached a deferred prosecution agreement in which he paid a ten thousand dollar fine and performed community service,” he added. “As a result, the case was dismissed. To be recharged and prosecuted for the exact same thing, a second time, is not just morally wrong, but certainly double jeopardy and thus unconstitutional. Especially as it concerns an innocent man.”

Many feel that Smollett blatantly tried to play off the racial and political tensions that are currently plaguing our country for his own personal gain. It’s despicable that even after his conviction, Hollywood is still giving Smollett another chance at success. 

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