Jussie Smollett's First Post-Scandal Project Lands at BET+

Former Empire star Jussie Smollett's directorial debut will soon stream on BET+.

The film, B-Boy Blues, is set to premiere on the streamer as part of its Pride Month programming slate. The project is Smollett's first since his widely publicized hate crime scandal and subsequent arrest. In 2019, Smollett alleged he was attacked in a racist and homophobic hate crime, but it was later determined that the attack was staged. In 2021, the actor was found guilty on five charges of making false police reports, and was sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, 150 days in jail, and fined.

B-Boy Blues is an adaptation of James Earl Hardy's novel of the same name. In addition to directing, Smollett co-wrote the film with Hardy and helped finance the production.

The film originally debuted at the American Black Film Festival in 2021, where it won the Narrative Feature Fan Favorite Award. In a statement, BET+ executive Devin Griffin called the film an "artful, heart-rending film about the complexity of love" that would add to the streamer's "intentional" content slate meant to represent the "fullness of the Black experience, including that of the LGBTQ+ community.

B-Boy Blues premieres June 9 on BET+.

Kirstie Renae is a writer, blogger, and Austin-based actress with a penchant for binge-watching TV with her dogs. Follow her on Twitter @KirstieRenae.