Jussie Smollett has reportedly refused to eat since he was imprisoned on March 10, only drinking water, TMZ reported on Wednesday.
The actor was said to be observing Lent and “fasting for spiritual reasons.” According to TMZ, all he has ingested is water, and “his plan is to keep that up until Lent ends on April 17.”
Jussie’s rejection of food is reportedly not a hunger strike or a protest of his prison sentence, to which he initially reacted emotionally, shouting in court that he is not “suicidal.”
Earlier, the actor was said to have been placed in a psych ward at Cook County Jail, but his brother Jocqui Smollett stated on Tuesday that he was removed from there on Monday.
In 2019, Empire star Jussie Smollett orchestrated a hate crime by telling police he was attacked by two men shouting racist and homophobic slurs. He claimed that the offenders had strangled him and doused him with bleach. An investigation revealed that the actor paid his acquaintances to stage the crime in order to gain popularity.
The court sentenced him to 30 months probation with five months served in prison, and ordered him to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago along with a fine of $25,000.