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Actor Jussie Smollett, onetime star of the TV drama Empire, was sentenced in a Chicago court to 30 months’ probation and 150 days in jail on Thursday for staging a hate crime against himself. 

Smollett, 39, was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution and fined $25,000 by Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Linn. 

Smollett was found guilty by a jury in December of five of the six felony disorderly conduct counts he faced, one for each time he was accused of lying to police. 

Prosecutors said Smollett, who is Black and gay, lied to police when he told them he was accosted on a dark Chicago street by two masked strangers in January 2019. 

Smollett claimed the attackers threw a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs and expressions of support for former U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Police arrested the actor a month later, saying he paid two brothers $3,500 to stage the attack in an effort to raise his show business profile. He eventually pleaded not guilty to six counts of felony disorderly conduct. 

His case took an unexpected turn in spring 2019 when the Cook County state’s attorney’s office dropped a 16-count indictment against him in exchange for Smollett’s forfeiting his $10,000 bond without admitting wrongdoing. 

The dismissal drew criticism from then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago’s police superintendent, who called the reversal a miscarriage of justice. 

In 2019, a special prosecutor assigned to the case recommended charging Smollett again and a grand jury returned an indictment. 

Smollett’s acting career declined after the incident. He lost his role as a singer-songwriter in the final season of Empire, a Fox television hip-hop drama that ended a five-year run in 2020.
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Major League Baseball canceled more games on Wednesday and pushed back Opening Day until April 14 after talks on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with players stalled again.

MLB locked out its players in December after failing to reach terms on a CBA and had canceled the first week of the regular season.

“Regrettably, after our second late-night bargaining session in a week, we remain without a deal,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Because of the logistical realities of the calendar, another two series are being removed from the schedule, meaning that Opening Day is postponed until April 14.

“We worked hard to reach an agreement and offered a fair deal with significant improvements for the players and our fans,” Manfred added. “I am saddened by this situation’s continued impact on our game and all those who are a part of it, especially our loyal fans.”

MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), which represents the players, remain far apart on issues like luxury tax, minimum salaries and an international draft, according to media reports.

The 2022 season was scheduled to begin on March 31, and this year marks the first missed MLB games because of a labor dispute since the players’ strike of 1994-1995.

That work stoppage forced a premature end to one season, delayed the start of the next year’s and turned off fans, with attendance plummeting when play finally resumed.

“In a last-ditch effort to preserve a 162-game season, this week we have made good-faith proposals that address the specific concerns voiced by the MLBPA and would have allowed the players to return to the field immediately,” Manfred said.

The MLBPA said in a statement that the MLB’s decision to cancel additional games was “completely unnecessary.”

“After making a set of comprehensive proposals to the league earlier this afternoon, and being told substantive responses were forthcoming, players have yet to hear back,” the MLBPA said in a statement on Twitter. “Players want to play and we cannot wait to get back on the field for the best fans in the world.” 
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U.S. golfing great Tiger Woods will be formally inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame Wednesday night at a ceremony in Florida.

Woods’ 14-year-old daughter Sam, who was born the day after he finished second at the 2007 U.S. Open, will formally introduce him at the new headquarters of the PGA Tour in Ponte Verde Beach.

The 46-year-old Woods dominated his sport from the moment he turned professional in 1996, becoming the first Black golfer to win a major event when he won The Masters the following year. He has since won 15 major titles, putting him second only to fellow American great Jack Nicklaus, and is tied with another golfing legend, Sam Snead, for the most PGA Tour victories with 82.

His career has been interrupted by numerous back and leg injuries which have required several surgeries. The worst of his injuries occurred last year when he suffered serious fractures to his lower right leg and damage to his ankle and foot when the vehicle he was driving sped off a road outside of Los Angeles.

Woods announced last February that he will “never” play full time on the PGA Tour again due to his injuries, but he appeared with his son Charlie at a team tournament where they finished in second place.

Also being inducted in Wednesday’s ceremonies are retired PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchen, three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Susie Maxwell Berning, and Marion Hollins, a 1920s amateur champion who later became an influential golf course architect and developer.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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