Jussie Smollett checked himself into an outpatient rehab treatment program following his release from jail, Pvnew can /confirm/i.
“It’s something he’s been wanting to do for years,” a source close to the former “Empire” actor confirmed to us Wednesday.
They added that he “just wrapped a movie” and felt “it was time.”
TMZ was the first to report the news, with his rep revealing that “Jussie has had an extremely difficult past few years.”
“He has quietly been working very hard for some time now and we are proud of him for taking these necessary steps,” the rep concluded.
The actor’s PR team did not immediately respond to Pvnew’s request for comment.
Smollett’s rehab stint comes more than one year following his release from Chicago’s Cook County Jail. He had served just six days of the five-month sentence he received for being convicted on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to police about a hate crime.
He made headlines in 2019 after he submitted a police report in Chicago alleging that two masked Donald Trump supporters attacked him while calling him “Empire f—-t n—-r” and pouring liquid he believed to be bleach all over him.
He also claimed they wrapped a noose around his neck.
After the Chicago Police Department labeled him a “victim,” they swiftly changed course and named him a suspect in the case when they could not come up with evidence of any attack.
Twelve jurors in a Chicago criminal court ultimately convicted Smollett of staging a hate crime in Dec. 2021 and his sentence came in March 2022.
The “Mighty Ducks” actor was released from jail — where he was holed up in the psych ward, according to his brother — early after an Illinois state appellate court ruled he could live freely in society as his lawyers worked to appeal his conviction.
Shortly after his release, the “B-Boy Blues” producer was proudly defending his name.
“If I had done this, I’d be a piece of s–t. And I don’t think that’s really questionable,” he said on a June 2022 episode of Sway Calloway’s SiriusXM show, “Sway in the Morning.”
“If I had done something like this, it would mean that I stuck my fist in the pain of black African Americans in this country for over 400 years.”
He added, “It would mean that I stuck my fist in the fears of the LGBTQ community all over the world. I am not that motherf—er. Never have been. Don’t need to be.”
He also proclaimed his innocence in an R&B track called “Thank You God…” he released on streaming platforms.
“It’s like they’re hell-bent on not solving the crime / Taking out the elements of race and trans and homophobia that’s straight taking lives / But turn around and act like I’m the one that killed the strides,” he rapped.
“I can’t be mad / Take my ego out / Some people searching for fame / Some people chasing that clout / Just remember this, this ain’t that situation / You think I’m stupid enough to kill my reputation?”
In addition to defending his name, he has wasted no time getting back to both his work and social life.
Earlier this year, he appeared to be on set directing a movie starring Vivica A. Fox, per TMZ, and was seen hiking in the Hollywood Hills with his former “Empire” costar, Taraji P. Henson.
