Smollett is not the first celebrity to be accused of lying to the public. March 5, 2004, Martha Stewart:Stewart was convicted of lying to prosecutors about a stock sale and sentenced to five months in federal prison. Jan. 28, 1972, Clifford Irving:Said to be writing a supposed autobiography about the notoriously reclusive Howard Hughes, Irving admitted to forging the book. The confession came a few weeks after Hughes gave a telephone conference with reporters to say he had never met Irving. Irving was eventually found guilty of fraud and sentenced to six months in prison.

Source: National Post February 22, 2019 12:22 UTC