Jussie Smollett Charged in Chicago Over Alleged Attack Hoax

One year after he made headlines for allegedly faking a hate crime, former Empire star Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a special prosecutor in Chicago over the incident, according to Fox 32 Chicago. He is due in court on Feb. 24 over this indictment.

The publication reported that Smollett told Chicago police in January 2019 that he had been attacked by two men who yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him. Prosecutors later claimed that the actor had faked the attack in order to help advance his career, as they alleged that he had been in contact with the two men, Ola and Abel Osundairo, who are of Nigerian descent, who were his alleged attackers. Both of the men claimed that Smollett had paid them to stage the attack. Smollett was subsequently written out of Empire as a result of the case.

According to CBS News, Smollett was later arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. However, the charges were later dropped without much explanation from the Chicago police department. When the charges were dropped, it was reported that Smollett agreed to let the city of Chicago keep his $10,000 in bail money.

Smollett has long maintained that he did not fake the crime. When the charges were dropped, the actor released a statement in which he thanked prosecutors for “attempting to do what’s right.”

“I would not be my mothers son if I was capable of doing what I was accused of,” Smollett said in March 2019, per CBS Chicago. “I’d like nothing more than to just get back to work and move on with my life, but make no mistakes I will always continue to fight for the justice, equality, and betterment of marginalized people everywhere.”

“I want you to know that not for a moment was it in vain, I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one,” he added. “I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I’ve been accused of. This has been an incredibly difficult time, honestly one of the worst of my entire life, but I am a man of a faith and I am a man that has knowledge of my history and I would not bring my family, our lives, or the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldn’t.”

“I am a man of faith, I am a man who has knowledge of my history and I would not bring my family, our lives, or the movement through a fire like this,” he said.

Now, with this new indictment, it appears that this matter will continue to play out.