Dave Chappelle's Joke About Jussie Smollett Resurfaces After Guilty Verdict

A clip of Dave Chappelle mocking Jussie Smollett in a stand-up routine has resurfaced as the Empire actor was found guilty of faking a hate crime against himself.

The 39-year-old was found guilty of five of the six charges that he lied to police about being the target of a hate crime which he orchestrated to raise his celebrity profile.

Smollett claimed that two men had attacked him in January 2019 near his home in Chicago. The attack allegedly entailed the use of racial slurs and he claims that the men tied a rope around his neck.

He also told police that the alleged attackers made reference to MAGA (Make America Great Again), the slogan used by former President Donald Trump, by saying: "This is Maga country."

An investigation by the Chicago police found several holes in Smollett's account and prosecutors accused the actor of paying the pair of men to attack him.

Chappelle cast doubts over Smollett's claims back in August 2019 and centered a joke about the attack claims in his Netflix special, Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones.

"One night in Chicago, he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack," Chappelle said in the bit.

"Oh it's a crazy story, apparently when he was walking down the street late at night, two white men came out of the shadows with MAGA hats on and beat him up, tied a rope around his neck and called him all kinds of [slurs] put some bleach on him and ran off into the night."

Chappelle went on to say that there was an outpouring of support for Smollett from celebrities and Hollywood but that African Americans were "oddly quiet" on the subject.

He added that that was because Black people understood that Smollett was "clearly lying."

"None of these details added up at all," he said.

Chappelle went on to imitate a mock interaction between Smollett and a police officer taking the report about the incident.

He joked: "Okay, you left the house at 2 a.m., it's minus 16 degrees. You were walking, you were walking. All riiiight. And... and where were you going? Subway. Sandwiches? That's when the men approached you... what did they have on? MAGA hats? MAGA hats in Chicago... [aside to another police officer] Find out where Kanye West was last night..."

A clip of the stand-up routine is gaining traction on social media today after user Craig Jeru tweeted it.

Smollett is due to be sentenced at a later date.