Latest news with #SpecialForces:World'sToughestTest
Sky News AU
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
Jussie Smollett makes return to TV years after faking hate crime attack
Sky News host James Morrow discusses actor Jussie Smollett's return to TV screens years after allegedly staging a hate crime attack against himself. 'Guess what? He was charged, he did his punishment, and now, he is going to be on 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test',' he said. 'Will he fake it?'
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Johnny Manziel joins Special Forces reality show after $7.7 million NFL career
Johnny Manziel joins Special Forces reality show after $7.7 million NFL career (Image via Getty) Johnny Manziel, 32, is swapping the football field for something completely different. The former Cleveland Browns quarterback will join the Fox reality show Special Forces: World's Toughest Test. This season was filmed in Morocco, where famous athletes and stars go through very hard tasks that test both the body and the mind. Manziel, once a first-round NFL pick worth $7.7 million, will now face military-style training on TV. Johnny Manziel joins Randall Cobb Eric Decker and other stars on Special Forces Manziel will be part of a star-filled cast. Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb, ex-New York Jets wide receiver Eric Decker, Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson, former USWNT captain Christie Pearce, and former NBA player Nick Young will also take part. The show, which first started in 2022, is known for pushing people to their limits with challenges like swimming in icy water, climbing from high places, and surviving rough weather. Filming in Morocco means hot days, cold nights, and tough desert conditions. Contestants must work together but also prove their own strength to stay in the game. According to Fox, the tests are based on real U.S. Special Forces training. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Johnny Manziel journey from NFL first round pick to Special Forces contestant Manziel was once one of football's brightest stars. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2012 while playing for Texas A&M and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2014. But his NFL career ended quickly. He played just two seasons before being released in 2016. Also Read: Dallas Cowboys rookie Jaydon Blue carted off after injury at training camp After the NFL, he joined the Canadian Football League, playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Montreal Alouettes. In 2019, he signed with the Memphis Express in the Alliance of American Football, but the league closed the same year. He later played for the FCF Zappers before retiring in 2022. Now, instead of throwing passes, Johnny Manziel will be facing one of the hardest reality shows on television and this time, the goal is survival. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
3 days ago
- Entertainment
Jussie Smollett returns to TV in 'Special Forces' 6 years after alleged hate crime scandal
Actor Jussie Smollett is making a return to television this fall, six years after an alleged 2019 hate crime scandal. The 42-year-old actor will be joining the fourth season of the reality competition program "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" alongside 17 other celebrities. The show puts the contestants through military-style special forces training, and the upcoming season will be set in Morocco, according to a press release from Fox. Smollett will appear alongside other notable athletes, artists, and personalities, including married couples Eric Decker and Jessie James Decker -- a former NFL player and country music singer, respectively -- and former NFL player Andrew East and retired Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson East. Model Chanel Iman, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice and Giudice's daughter Gia will also be among the celebrity contestants. Smollett previously starred as musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama "Empire" from 2015 until 2019. In 2019, "Empire" co-creator Lee Daniels confirmed Smollett wouldn't be returning to the show ahead of its sixth season following an investigation into an alleged hate crime attack on Smollett in Chicago that authorities say was staged. Smollett had filed a police report in January 2019 claiming he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack by two men. Chicago police later said they began to question that account after the two men allegedly involved in the attack, which was captured in security camera footage, told law enforcement the actor paid them to help him stage the attack. In a statement at the time, Smollett's attorneys denied the allegation, saying, "Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying." A grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report in March 2019. However, the charges were later dropped after Smollett completed preemptive community service and agreed to forfeit 10% of a $100,000 bond. Smollett was indicted again in February 2020 on six felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly making false reports to police. In December 2021, he was found guilty on five of six counts of disorderly conduct in connection to allegations of faking the attack and lying to police and was later sentenced to 150 days in county jail and ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago. He was also fined $25,000. In November 2024, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned Smollett's 2021 conviction, stating that the case violated his due process rights and the court was simply resolving a "question about the State's responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants." "We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust," the court said at the time. "Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied." Smollett has consistently maintained his innocence. In May this year, he settled with the city of Chicago in its civil case against him to recoup the costs of the initial 2019 investigation into the alleged attack. As part of the settlement, Smollett agreed to donate $50,000 to a Chicago nonprofit serving underprivileged youth. He also said he would give a separate $10,000 donation to the Chicago Torture Justice Center. "To anyone who has had to prove they have in fact been violated, you know how difficult this can be to navigate," he wrote in an Instagram post at the time. "I stand with and for you." Smollett also participated in the upcoming Netflix documentary film "The Truth About Jussie Smollett?" which explores the alleged 2019 attack case. The documentary is set to debut on the streaming platform on Aug. 22. "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" will premiere on Fox on Sept. 25.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Johnny Manziel joins stacked ‘Special Forces: World's Toughest Test' lineup after NFL flameout
Johnny Manziel is headed to the small screen. The former Browns quarterback, 32, is rounding out the star-studded cast of the upcoming fourth season of Fox's 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test,' in which athletes and reality stars will face harrowing challenges that will push them both physically and emotionally. Manziel, who famously flamed out of the NFL after two turbulent seasons with Cleveland, is just one of the many athletes part of this season's cast, joining retired wideout Randall Cobb, ex-Jets receiver Eric Decker and his wife, country singer Jessie James Decker, and former long snapper Andrew East and his wife, famed Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson. Advertisement 5 Johnny Manziel will appear in season four of 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.' Getty Images for Fanatics 5 He spent two turbulent seasons with the Browns. Getty Images Christie Pearce Rampone, a World Cup and Olympic soccer champ, and Nick Young, an NBA guard, will also star. Advertisement The show, which first premiered in January 2023, will see the recruits venture to Morocco, where they'll be tasked to endure 'training challenges across the country's expansive desert terrain, including a supply search in an abandoned village where they must race to extraction, a treacherous rat-run through dark and narrow tunnels, a plane shell dunk drill where pairs of recruits will be submerged underwater' and more, according to Deadline. Bravo's Teresa Giudice and her daughter, Gia Giudice, also make up the cast, as well as 'The Valley's' Brittany Cartwright, 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' alum Eva Marcille, model Chanel Iman, 'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown, actors Ravi V. Patel and Jussie Smollett, and social media personalities Brianna 'Chickenfry' LaPaglia and Mark Estes. 5 Former NFL receiver Randall Cobb is also part of the cast. Bill Kostroun for New York Post 5 Former wideout Eric Decker will also appear on the program with his wife, Jessie James Decker. Getty Images for Spotify Advertisement A former first-round pick with the Browns in 2014, Manziel dazzled in the college ranks at Texas A&M — where he won the Heisman Trophy as a freshman in 2012 — but failed to bring the moxie to the pro level as he combatted substance abuse issues and off-field controversies. In the years following his 2016 release from the Browns, Manziel opened up about his widely chronicled spiral, sharing in the 2023 Netflix documentary 'Untold: Johnny Football' that he contemplated taking his own life. 5 Johnny Manziel later joined the Alliance of American Football league. AP The quarterback went on to have stints in the CFL and the since-defunct Alliance of American Football. Advertisement Manziel recently shared on Logan Paul's 'Impaulsive' podcast that he pondered what an NFL comeback would look like last year. 'I asked myself this question last year,' Manziel said. 'Got myself into a mindset of like, 'OK, I'm going to go start working out again, throwing the football around, see if I can still get myself in shape.'' In 14 appearances for the Browns, Manziel threw for 1,675 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Manziel has since shifted focus to the 'World's Toughest Test,' which premieres Sept. 25.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hill
Jussie Smollett to make TV return on ‘Special Forces'
Scandal-embroiled actor Jussie Smollett will make his television return after six years as part of Fox's ' Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.' Smollett starred on the network's hit show 'Empire' for five seasons. He departed from the show after alleging he was jumped by two men in a racist and homophobic attack outside his Chicago apartment — only for investigators to determine the actor had fabricated the incident. Now, Smollett — along with 17 other celebrities — will compete in training exercises and challenges led by former special forces operatives in Season 4 of 'Special Forces.' Fox described the series as a 'test unlike any other.' 'Viewers see the recruits face the harshest of environments that simulate the highly classified selection process, pushing themselves in the ultimate test of their physical, mental and emotional resilience and revealing the celebrities' deepest and truest character,' the show's website reads. Other contestants include reality stars Kody Brown of 'Sister Wives,' Brittany Cartwright of 'The Valley,' mother-daughter duo Gia and Teresa Giudice of 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey,' and actor Ravi V. Patel of 'Animal Control.' Athletes make up a significant portion of the season's contestants. They include Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East, U.S. women's soccer player Christie Pearce Rampone and former NBA player Nick Young. Former NFL players Johnny Manziel, Randall Cobb, Eric Decker and Andrew East will also participate. Rounding out the list are country music artist Jessie James Decker, model Chanel Iman, actress Eva Marcille and internet personalities Mark Estes and Brianna LaPaglia. The series' newest season will begin Sept. 25, according to Fox.
