Chicagoans were the first to smell Jussie Smollett's raw fish. As his tale of an unconscionable racist and homophobic attack in the city's Streeterville neighborhood had the world in a chokehold in 2019, us residents yelled "shenanigans!" for one primary reason: The alleged attack happened during the polar vortex, a once-in-a-generation cold snap - with wind chills reaching 50 degrees below zero -- that literally shut down a city known to handle blistering frigidity.

But we had to wait to call bullshit on a planned attack (complete with props!) by white, racist homophobes on an actor known for a show only Black folks watch. And who, despite having money and options, chose to walk to a Subway at 2 a.m. on a night that had Satan indoors wearing a Snuggie. Because calling him a liar out loud would've gotten us canceled or whatever.

The truth can't be covered up by bleach and nooses for long, so we knew the denouement of this tale - the funniest part of which involves the "white perpetrators" being the swole-est Nigerians I've ever seen - would not shake out in Smollett's favor. Indeed, he was convicted, served a spot of time behind bars and is out pending appeal.

It's been nearly six years, and after a large break from the public in which he's only poked his head out a few times, Smollett seems to be on a comeback tour in promotion of the film "The Lost Holliday," which he co-wrote, directed and in which he stars. He sat for an exclusive Zoom with PEOPLE and a recorded sit-down with Entertainment Tonight, among others.

Now, the world enjoys a scrappy redemption story...a "look, I f***ed up, I sought God, went to therapy and now I'm ready to rejoin you" arc. The time for Smollett to start that arc was at some point after the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department held a press conference revealing he was stone busted, and at some point before the righteous polemic he delivered outside of the courthouse after his charges were dropped; not humbling himself, shutting up and moving on with his life right then is arguably the reason he's still battling this in the courts.

But fine...it's been some years. Maybe dude has come around and is ready to display public penitence. Nope. Smollett continues to insist that the full-scale investigation the Chicago Police Department and the FBI were forced to conduct thanks to intense international scrutiny produced a web of fabrications in a shadowy covert conspiracy to take down the dude who got killed in "Alien: Covenant." Y'know...just like "they" set up Bill Cosby and R. Kelly. (Maybe Smollett was trying to buy Tubi...?)

Smollett's tale wasted time and resources of law enforcement which could've dedicated them to more exigent issues. It prompted sympathy from prominent politicians and public figures. He made a mockery of the interminable pro-LGBTQ and anti-racial discrimination movements at once. He brought negative international scrutiny to a city known for being nakedly hostile to the MAGA faithful. He wasted Robin Roberts' valuable time, forced the entire cast of "On Our Own" to have his back in public and tarnished Tupac Shakur's name by doing something very non-Tupac-esque.

And, in the vein of Kells' post-2002 sex tape scandal track "Heaven I Need a Hug" Smollett used his music to propagate the narrative that he's the victim, evoking God (of course) to thank him for showing him his "enemies."

The lie that's too big to abandon has been around since time immemorial. But c'mon...there's a five-episode documentary dedicated to laying out the details of the hoax. There's a detailed Wikipedia page dedicated to it. "Juicy Smooyay" will forever be a thing. There's no "but, maybe he's telling the truth" asterisk over any of this.

But Smollett continues having the unmitigated gall to ask for our goodwill. It begs the question: after six years of the lie's calcification, does Smollett himself believe his own story now? Is it akin to an FBI agent deep undercover in the mob who no longer knows which way is up?

He doesn't need to be locked under a prison like most thinly veiled racists believe; as someone very close to the case told me recently, the public shame he's experienced is punishment enough -- or at least it would be if he stopped playing in our faces. Until he does, there's no redemption for Jussie Smollett. There's no career to rebuild. There's no forgetting and moving on when the lie is so inextricably baked into every move he makes, every mention of his name.

But keep crying those tears, Juicy. At least Vivica A. Fox still has your back, I guess.