The City of Chicago and former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett have reached a settlement, six years after the city sued the TV star.
The city filed a civil suit against the actor in April 2019, three months after Smollett claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood.
However, police and city officials later said he orchestrated the hoax hate crime against himself. The city’s suit accused Smollett of submitting a false police report on Jan. 29, 2019, said he knew his attackers, planned the attack, and sought $130,000 in expenses spent on the police investigation.
Smollett had filed a countersuit denying that he orchestrated the attack and denied making a false police report.
On Monday, the city and Smollett advised the court that they have settled, “but need more time to finalize documentation.”
The details of the settlement were not disclosed.
A status hearing set for April 30 has been reset for May 29, according to the court docket.
The Chicago Department of Law and an attorney for Smollett did not respond to requests for comment.
Back in January 2019, the actor had reported to police he was the victim of a hate crime, and was attacked because he is Black and gay. Two men — brothers Ola and Abimbola Osundairo — were arrested in the investigation. Police investigated the case, and later said that Smollett had recruited the brothers to help him stage the attack.
In February 2019 Smollett was arrested, and the following month he was indicted by a grand jury over allegedly filing a false police report. The charges were later dropped by then Cook County State Attorney Kimberly Foxx.
A special prosecutor revived the case and in February 2020 Smollett was charged again on six disorderly conduct charges, leading to a trial.
In December 2021, he was found guilty on five of the six counts. Smollett was sentenced in 2022 to 150 days in jail and 30 months’ probation.
In that trial, the Osundairo brothers said that Smollet hired them to stage an attack as a ploy for public attention and said they were paid a $3,500 check. Smollett argued that the check was written for personal training services, and denied the claims that he staged the attack.
That conviction was later overturned in November 2024 by the Illinois Supreme Court over prosecutorial issues. The state Supreme Court found that Smollett should not have been charged after he entered a nonprosecution agreement with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
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