From Jail to Directorial Debut, Jussie Smollett’s ‘B-Boy Blues’ to Premiere on BET+

Empire actor, Jussie Smollett is fighting his way back from the bottom to center his career after a fake hate crime scandal rocked his world

According to Variety, the embattled artist has found a home for a project that will showcase his debut as a director. BET+ has picked up a film he directed, B-Boy Blues which will premiere next month on June 9. Joining Smollett on the project is reality TV maven, Mona Scott-Young and her production company, Monami Entertainment. Scott-Young has signed on as a producer and was instrumental in getting the film on BET+.

“B-Boy Blues is a beautifully bold, funny, heartwarming bro-mance and I was thrilled to partner with Jussie to help this wonderful film gain greater exposure,” Young said in a written statement. “Falling head over heels and fighting for love are universal emotions and experiences and we are so grateful to BET+ for shining a powerful spotlight on the still seriously underrepresented black LGBTQ+ community and bringing this impactful love story to an even greater audience.”

B-Boy Blues is a film adaptation of James Earl Hardy’s book of the same title. The movie stars Timothy Richardson, Ledisi, Brandee Evans, Heather B, Marquise Vilson, Jabari Redd, Broderick Hunter and Thomas Mackie.

Smollett also penned the script for B-Boy Blues with Hardy and also financed it with Cleveland-based radio broadcast investor Tom Wilson for A SuperMassive Movie.

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

The indie film was presented last year at the 2021 American Black Film Festival. The film won the Narrative Feature Fan Favorite Award. The film is being described as “a clash of class and culture when Mitchell Crawford, a college-educated journalist from Brooklyn and Raheim Rivers, a bike messenger from Harlem, fall in love.”

This is actually his second project since he was released from prison while awaiting an appeal.

According to NBC News, a court granted a motion that allowed Smollett to be released from jail pending an appeal. The motion requested that the sentence be stayed or placed on hold. Smollett is appealing a recent sentence of 150 days in jail after being convicted of falsely reporting to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in 2019.

In April, Smollett released “Thank You God”…, which he previewed on his Instagram account.