Jussie Smollett has zero intentions of paying the city of Chicago what mayor Rahm Emanuel says is the equivalent to what the city spent in the investigation into Smollett’s hate crime claims and eventual arrest.
The Empire star, 36, has “no plans on paying investigative costs being outrageously demanded,” an insider told Us Weekly. Instead, the source suggested that “the Chicago Police Department should be investigating the way this matter was mishandled from the beginning.”
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Emanuel previously ordered Smollett to pay more than $130,000 to the city by Thursday, April 4. The move came about a week after prosecutors dropped all 16 charges against the singer.
“Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the city of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019. The law department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the circuit court of Cook County,” Bill McCaffrey from the city of Chicago’s department of law said in a statement on Thursday. “Once it is filed, the law department will send a courtesy copy of the complaint to Mr. Smollett’s Los Angeles-based legal team.”
He added: “The law department will file the suit in the near future. As part of this legal action, the law department will pursue the full measure of damages allowed under the ordinance.”
The source said that “Jussie looks forward to defending himself against this frivolous actions, if it is indeed filed.” The insider also noted that “it’s not surprising they want to continue with the media circus. The FBI should be investigating why charges were even filed against Jussie to begin with.”
During a March 28 press conference, Emanuel said, “When [Smollett] does pay the city back on just what the taxpayers have fronted, in that memo section [of the check], he can write, ‘I’m sorry and I’m accountable for what I’ve done.’”
He had harsh words for the actor, calling the outcome of the incident “a whitewash of justice,” adding, “It’s just wrong. … Does he have no decency?”
Smollett has maintained that he has been “truthful and consistent on every single level since day one.”
“I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I’ve been accused of,” he said on March 26, when the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office announced it would be dropping all charges against Smollett in exchange for forfeiture of his bond.
Smollett has also denied that he staged the alleged racist and homophobic attack that he says took place in January.
Last month, two law enforcement officials told ABC7 Chicago that the FBI is investigating the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the charges against Smollett. A source told Us Weekly that the “active federal investigation” is looking into how Smollet “received an unusually favorable plea deal.”
