YouTube [TODAY]

Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months probation after being found guilty of staging a hate crime against himself.

The actor will also have to pay $145,000 (£110,000) in restitution fees and fines, the latter of which was set at the maximum allowed by law ($25,000).

He will do his jail time in Cook County prison in Chicago, Illinois, though only 75 days will be spent behind bars as the total 150 days is part of his probation sentence.

“I did not do this,” he passionately said after being sentenced on 10 March.

Judge James Linn described Smollett as a “profoundly arrogant and selfish” person.

“I don’t think money motivated you at all,” Judge Linn continued, referencing Smollett’s reasoning for staging the hate crime.

“The only thing I can find is that you craved the attention.

“You took some scabs off healing wounds, you ripped them apart. And for a while it worked.

“You were throwing a national pity party for yourself.”

The sentencing follows Smollett being convicted in December by a jury of six men and six women of five of the six felony disorderly conduct charges he faced after a nearly two-week-long trial.

In court, he stuck with his claim that the alleged attackers shouted a Trump slogan and tied a noose around his neck.

Prosecutors accused the 39-year-old of faking the incident to help his career after being “dissatisfied with his salary” on Empire where he was reportedly making $100,000 per episode.

The fallout of the alleged hate crime hoax resulted in him being written out of the show and a massive police investigation that included around two dozen officers and 3,000 staff hours.

The trial, which began in November 2021, saw two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, claim that the Cro star paid them $3,500 (£2,600) to carry out a fake attack on him – something which Smollett firmly rejected.

Instead, he claimed that the cheque was for a meal and workout plan for when he was away travelling.

The actor told jurors: “There was no hoax.”

He also explained that one of the people attacking him was “massive” and wearing a ski mask to disguise their identity.

Due to the alleged use of a racial slur, Smollett said he assumed the man was white.

Jury deliberations lasted for nine hours and Smollett did not react as their verdict was read out in the Cook County Circuit Court.