Jussie Smollett Reacts to Critics Who Say He Doesn’t Deserve 2nd Chance in Hollywood (Exclusive)

DHLTV

Transcript

00:00Any feeling in your stomach?

00:04There's always a feeling in my stomach when I sit down

00:06because, you know, I don't particularly like interviews.

00:09But I also, you know, I'm a big boy

00:13and I know why we're here and what we gotta do.

00:16So it's all good.

00:17So you're ready.

00:18I'm ready.

00:19Okay, got it.

00:20I'll just jump right in then

00:21because you know there are going to be people

00:24when they see, first of all, they see your name

00:27and they see that you're doing an interview.

00:29They're going to say, why should I give him a second chance?

00:33Why do I want to listen to what he has to say?

00:35So what is your response to people

00:38who have that immediate feeling about you?

00:40Well, I understand that.

00:42You know, I have to, it's been a long time

00:44and I've had a lot of emotions attached to this.

00:48You know, so when I extract my emotions,

00:50when I extract even, dare I say, my ego from this,

00:53I can understand why people feel the way that they do

00:56specifically because of the narrative that was spun

00:58and was given to them.

01:01I've stood by, not my truth,

01:03but the truth the entire time for almost six years.

01:05I haven't switched my story up.

01:07I haven't changed anything that I've ever said.

01:10I stand by every single thing that I've ever said.

01:13Everyone else in the situation,

01:14every single person has changed their story numerous times.

01:18So I don't really know what else to say about that.

01:20Again, I understand if I felt some sort of way,

01:23if I knew someone or respected them

01:24or even didn't care about them

01:26and heard the things that were heard about me

01:29that were just factually untrue,

01:31then I would feel some sort of way too.

01:33So I can't sit here and say, you know,

01:36oh, well, that makes absolutely no sense because it does.

01:39The only problem is, is that people tend to think

01:42that I somehow fooled them when in actuality

01:45it was the other way around.

01:46Everyone else fooled them.

01:47So I don't know what else to say about that.

01:50I could have said that I was guilty a long time ago.

01:53January 2019, Jussie claimed he was the victim

01:57of a hate crime, but cops later uncovered evidence

02:00allegedly indicating the actor paid two extras

02:02who worked on his show Empire to stage the attack.

02:06Jussie was booked for disorderly conduct.

02:08He got community service and the charge was dropped.

02:11But the following year, more trouble.

02:13You were convicted.

02:14Sure.

02:15On five counts of disorderly conduct.

02:17You were sentenced to 150 days in jail,

02:20had to pay restitution.

02:22You have served six of those days

02:24and then you were released.

02:25Right.

02:26Pending appeal.

02:26Right.

02:27Where does that stand now?

02:28We're still fighting.

02:30I mean, it's at the Illinois Supreme Court

02:33and we'll see what happens.

02:34And it's been hard, man.

02:36Like it's been, it hasn't been, you know,

02:39I can smile now, but there was a long time

02:42where it was so frustrating because it was like,

02:44am I ever gonna feel like me again?

02:45Right.

02:46You know, and trying to move forward.

02:48Also, you know, the way that it works

02:52is what liars do is they take a big pile of lies

02:54and they sprinkle it with the truth.

02:55So as I'm sitting here and I'm fighting the things,

02:57the very things that are untrue about me,

02:59some truths did come into play that they use

03:02to kind of, to certain, to prove things that were not true.

03:06And so there were those moments where I was kind of like,

03:09oh my goodness, my life is kind of, you know,

03:12oh, well I didn't do that.

03:13And they're like, but you did this.

03:14I'm like, oh, I did do that.

03:15I did buy that, you know?

03:16And things like that that I've had to talk

03:20to my family about, that I've had to talk to friends about,

03:23you know, and, but I'm actually contrary to popular belief.

03:27I'm okay with accepting responsibility

03:29for things that I've actually done.

03:31I'm just not okay with accepting responsibility

03:32for something that I did not do.

03:34What are those things you've taken responsibility for?

03:36Oh my gosh, substance abuse.

03:38You know, that sort of came to light.

03:40Not sort of, that came to light.

03:41You were a loose cannon at some time.

03:43I was.

03:44Reckless at some time.

03:45Absolutely was reckless.

03:47When I saw that you checked yourself into rehab,

03:50I thought, that makes a lot of sense.

03:53Why did you do that?

03:54What was your reasoning behind deciding to do that?

03:58I've wanted to do it for years.

04:00I've wanted to do it for a number of years.

04:02And to be quite honest, I was told that I couldn't.

04:06They told you you couldn't

04:07because they looked at it as a sign of guilt?

04:09Or why did they tell you you couldn't?

04:11I think so, maybe.

04:12I don't really know.

04:13I had to get better coping mechanisms.

04:15And that's what the problem was for me.

04:18Jussie's support system has always included

04:20his famous family and Empire co-stars

04:23from Taraji P. Henson.

04:25There was one really difficult moment,

04:27many difficult moments that she was there,

04:28but there was one difficult moment in particular,

04:31and she rushed over and just physically cradled me.

04:37And those are the things that, that's not a coworker.

04:41That's not a celebrity friend.

04:46That's family.

04:47To Vivica A. Fox, who now stars alongside him

04:50in The Lost Holiday, out now in select AMC theaters.

04:54It marks Jussie's acting return.

04:57She plays the mother of his late husband,

04:59meeting for the first time ahead of the funeral.

05:02You have offered Jussie grace.

05:04He's family.

05:05He's family.

05:07Vivica is such a huge part of my moving on,

05:10of my moving forward, because that's-

05:12Did she encourage you to take that step

05:13back into the spotlight?

05:15Oh my goodness, absolutely.

05:17We can talk about that a little bit later.

05:19Oh, right, right, right, right, right.

05:21Okay, yeah, I hear you.

05:23Somehow she has,

05:26she has made it okay to

05:32give my work a chance.

05:34I can tell you're fighting, trying not to get emotional.

05:36I can see your bottom lip.

05:38I am, because

05:43people just don't know me.

05:45Yeah.

05:45I want to adopt a kid, you know?

05:47Like, I want to have all of these things in my life

05:49and I don't want to have a felony on my record

05:51for something that I didn't do, you know?

05:53So that's what we're fighting for.

05:55It's like, it's much,

05:56I know that on the surface it probably seems like,

05:58why doesn't he just serve the time?

05:59Why doesn't he just let this go?

06:01It would be easier if I had in fact done this

06:04to say that I did it.

06:05I wouldn't have spent almost $3 million of my own money.

06:09I would not have had a trial.

06:11And you know there are probably a lot of people out there

06:13who say that, like, why doesn't he just take this and go

06:17and move on with his life?

06:19Because as an entertainer, as a businessman,

06:24I probably should.

06:26But as a human being, and as a man, as a black man,

06:30and as an openly gay black man,

06:32I have a problem with letting them win on something

06:36that they shouldn't be able to, you know?

06:39And I know that, you know, I've heard so many words,

06:42so many, you know, fiery or outbursts

06:47or whatever those are,

06:48but I'm a human being before I'm anything.

06:51I don't know about this fame stuff.

06:53Like this fame stuff is not real to me.

06:55None of it is real.

06:56You know, the so-called rage that people feel,

07:02well, you don't know what it is

07:04until you've had to completely over and over and over

07:08try to prove your own traumas.

07:10And that's exhausting.

07:12That's utterly exhausting.

07:13And there's a very few people who understand

07:16what that actually feels like.

07:18I'm a grown man and something happened.

07:22I can't tell you exactly what did happen,

07:24but I can tell you what did not happen.

07:27And that's what I have to sit on.

07:29No matter how much people are yelling in my face,

07:32saying, you're a liar, you're a liar, you're a liar.

07:35No, I'm not.

07:36No, I'm not.

07:37I don't want them to believe that,

07:38but if that is what they believe, that's on you.

07:43Is there anything you would have done differently

07:46in these past six years?

07:47My goodness, a million things I would have done differently.

07:50A million things.

07:52Very early on, I gave up my power in the situation.

07:56And looking back, I wish that I hadn't

07:58because there were people making decisions.

08:01I wish I hadn't done the interview.

08:05I never wanted to.

08:06I watched it and I was mortified.

08:09I'm tired of other people getting a chance

08:12to keep on talking about it.

08:13I'm ready for their gravy train to stop.

Category

Transcript

Recommended