Netflix just dropped a new documentary on Jussie Smollett, and viewers aren’t holding back on their opinions. In The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, the former Empire actor breaks his five-year silence to defend himself against the staged attack hoax that upended his career. But those who’ve watched it are genuinely angry, calling the Netflix doccie “irresponsible”, “a joke” and “ridiculous”.
If you need a refresher, January 29, 2019, was the day Smollett claimed he was assaulted in a racist and homophobic attack outside his Chicago apartment. Two acquaintances from Empire, Akimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, later said Smollett paid them to stage the attack for publicity. He faced multiple charges, served time in county jail, and the story cemented itself as one of the wildest celebrity scandals of the decade. Which, honestly, is just the type of material Netflix goes after, right?
But Netflix’s new documentary shakes things up by suggesting an alternative theory: Smollett might have actually been attacked, and the Chicago Police might have botched the investigation, or worse, covered it all up. Smollett sticks to his story that the payment to the Osundairo brothers was for herbal steroids, not a hoax. He even claims a separate pair of white men carried out the attack and were never investigated.
Of course, critics aren’t buying it. The Guardian’s Hannah J Davies called the film “irresponsible”, “nonsense”, and “flimsy,” pointing out that people pushing the conspiracy were given credibility without expertise. But Reddit users are equally furious.
One wrote, “Netflix has been putting out some REALLY disappointing documentaries lately…Whatever gets the quickest buck for the cheapest turnaround I guess. We know how these guys operate.” Another added, “It was a complete joke. Conspiracy theories conjured up after the trial to try and save this loser’s career. A complete waste—I’ve seen better documentaries on YouTube.”
Viewers also took issue with the editing and narrative choices. “The last 15 minutes or so was an insult to the intelligence of anyone watching it. Whoever put this together wanted to give us ‘the other side’ of the story,” wrote one commenter, noting the attempt to suggest Chicago PD tampered with evidence. Another chimed in, “Born and raised in Chicago. No one goes outside during a Polar Vortex if they don’t absolutely have to. No one would say ‘this is MAGA country.’ There is zero doubt in my mind that this was manufactured.”
The documentary runs 90 minutes and mixes interviews with Smollett, the Osundairo brothers, police officers, lawyers, and journalists. Netflix’s logline promises viewers a “shocking true story of an allegedly fake story that some now say might just be a true story.” In reality, the doc doesn’t solve anything. Director Gagan Rehill told Variety, “This is certainly not the purpose of this film…It’s more an opportunity for people to watch, watch him, and see what they believe.”
Still, the timing of the release is eyebrow-raising. Smollett is quietly rebooting his career as an actor, director, and recording artist. Some viewers think Netflix is giving him a soft platform to reintroduce himself, though Rehill insists that wasn’t the point.
Representatives for Smollett also noted the doc left out key details like “witness tampering, a failure to run DNA found on the evidence, and the CPD’s history of scandal.”
Look, at the end of the day, Netflix leaves the final verdict to viewers. Are you buying Jussie Smollett’s claims in the Netflix doccie, or is this another exercise in conspiracy sensationalism? Either way, the backlash makes it clear: audiences expected more than a tangled web of claims and counterclaims. They wanted answers. They wanted the truth.
As another Redditor put it, “How stupid do these producers think we are?”
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