Jussie Smollett Attempts Career Comeback as His LGBTQ Drama Gets BET Release

 

Disgraced former Empire star and hate crime hoaxer is looking to relaunch his tattered Hollywood career with a directorial debut on the BET network.

 

According to Variety, Smollett is trading in his court witness chair for a director’s chair as BET+ has picked up B-Boy Blues, the first film he has directed.

 

The film is set to debut on the streaming service on June 9 as Pride Month kicks off.

 

B-Boy Blues is an adaptation of James Earl Hardy’s novel of the same name and stars Timothy Richardson, Thomas Mackey, Ledisi, Brandee Eans, Heather B, and Marquise Vilson. Smollett also wrote the script with Hardy’s assistance.

 

The film debuted at last year’s American Black Film Festival where it won the Narrative Feature Fan Favorite Award but had not found a distributor until BET stepped up.

 

The film follows a love affair between journalist Mitchell Crawford (Richardson) after he meets a bike messenger (Mackey) from Harlem.

 

“Through our content slate, we are intentional about representing the fullness of the Black experience, including that of the LGBTQ+ community,” BET+ exec VP/GM Devin Griffin explained about picking up rights to the film. “B-Boy Blues’ is an artful, heart-rending film about the complexity of love – something we all can relate to.”

 

Smollett, of course, has been convicted of lying about being the victim of a racially motivated attack in Chicago. The former TV star is currently out on bond while he appeals his conviction.

 

But if his sentence is upheld, Smollett faces 150 days in jail in Chicago’s Cook County Jail for lying to police about orchestrating a racist and homophobic attack against himself.

 

Read More Here: Breitbart