US actor Jussie Smollett sent himself a racist and homophobic letter and claimed he was attacked because he was unhappy with his salary, police said today.
It comes after the Empire star was arrested and charged with filing a false police report when he told authorities he was attacked by two men who hurled racist and anti-gay slurs and looped a rope around his neck.
Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the 36-year-old "took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career".
Mr Johnson said at a news conference Smollett sent a racist and homophobic threatening letter to himself at the Fox studio lot before an alleged attack.
He also said he was "dissatified with his salary".
Smollett, who is accused of filing a false police report, was charged on Wednesday and turned himself in early on Thursday.
The actor told police he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop at around 2am local time on January 29.
Smollett, who is black and gay, said they beat him, made racist and homophobic comments, poured some unknown chemical substance on him and looped a rope around his neck before fleeing.
But detectives in a city with many CCTV cameras could not find video of the alleged beating.
Later, two brothers were taken into custody for questioning but were released after two days, with police saying they were no longer suspects.
Smollett is due to appear in court later today.
In a statement, his lawyers Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson said he "enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked".
