Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for January 26
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Jussie Smollett appeared in court virtually on Thursday for a status hearing in his fake crime hoax case.
The hearing was held on Zoom from the Cook County Courthouse in Illinois, and the former "Empire" actor said he was appearing from New York.
Smollett's defense attorneys Nenye Uche and Tina Glandian were also present.
The judge gave the defense until February 25 to file post-trial motions. On March 3, both sides will have to turn in a list of witnesses they want to call. A pre-sentencing investigation report was completed and is being given to attorneys.
JUSSIE SMOLLETT GETS MARCH SENTENCING DATE IN HATE CRIME HOAX CASE
Smollett was found guilty on five out of six counts of lying to police about the ordeal after he reported that he was the victim of a hate crime in Chicago in early 2019. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Smollett will be sentenced on March 10 after he was convicted of five of six counts in his hate crime hoax case.
In December, a jury found the 39-year-old guilty on the first five counts. He was acquitted on a sixth count of lying to a detective weeks after he said he was attacked.
The former "Empire" actor was charged with six counts of disorderly conduct related to false statements to Chicago police officers about a 2019 hate crime against him. At the time, the fallen star claimed that two men attacked him due to his skin color and sexual orientation.
He was found guilty of telling a police officer he was a hate crime victim, telling an officer he was a battery victim, telling a detective he was a hate crime victim, telling a detective he was a battery victim and then telling a detective again he was battery victim. He was not found guilty on a sixth charge of telling a second detective he was an aggravated battery victim.
The actor's conviction was announced in early Dec. 2021.
Jussie Smollett will face sentencing for his hate crime hoax on March 10. (AP Photo/Matt Marton, file)
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The ordeal began in early 2019, when Smollett reported that he had been attacked by two men that used racial and homophobic slurs against him.
Police began to suspect the legitimacy of the report and Smollett was eventually charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
In March 2019, the charges against Smollett were dropped and he was asked to reimburse the city of Chicago for its pricey investigation into the matter.
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A special investigator was again assigned to the matter to investigate why the charges were dropped, and Smollett was hit with the new charges in early 2020. He pleaded not guilty.
Jussie Smollett attended Thursay's court hearing over Zoom from New York. ( Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Smollett's attorneys have expressed their intention to appeal the verdict, and have said they're "confident" they will be met with success.
The renewed investigation found internal trouble as well, as Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx was accused of lying about whether she was in contact with Smollett's sister and of violating legal ethics, according to the investigator's report, which was made public at the special prosecutor's suggestion.
Fox News' Ruth Ravve, Matt Finn, Nate Day and Julius Young contributed to this report.
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