Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor accused of orchestrating a hate crime hoax, has agreed to pay $50,000 to a Chicago charity as part of a settlement over a lawsuit about the cost of the investigation into his claims.
The actor, who is Black and gay, claimed two men assaulted him, put a noose around his neck and spewed racial and homophobic slurs at him in Chicago in January 2019. Two years later, Smollett was convicted of lying to police related to allegations that he staged his own attack. While the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the decision, he has now agreed to pay $50,000 to a city charity to settle a lawsuit over the costs of the police investigation.
In April 2019, the city originally sought $130,000 — the amount paid to police for their 1,800 hours of overtime work stemming from his false statements. Smollett countersued and insisted the attack was not a hoax.
He previously paid a $10,000 fine and did community service, court documents show.
Now, in exchange for dismissing the suit, the actor agreed to pay $50,000 to Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts, a Chicago-based organization that aims “to improve the quality of life for underprivileged youth and their families by providing safe, stable, and nurturing experiences that enhance social, emotional, academic, and career development.”
The Independent has reached out to Smollett for comment.
“This payment adds to the $10,000 payment Smollett previously made to the City in 2019 for a total sum of $60,000. Since the City filed its lawsuit, Smollett has faced additional accountability through the appointment of a Special Prosecutor and subsequent criminal trial, where the evidence was publicly aired and a conviction secured (ultimately reversed on procedural grounds). Accordingly, the City believes this settlement provides a fair, constructive, and conclusive resolution, allowing all the parties to close this six-year-old chapter and move forward,” a statement from the Chicago Department of Law reads.
Torri Hamilton, an attorney for Smollett, told The Independent in a statement: “Jussie chose to end this saga by donating to a charity that focuses on the performing arts and underprivileged kids in Chicago. Jussie has always loved the people of Chicago and this lawsuit has been dragging on for six years now. The decision to put it in his rearview mirror by supporting a cause already near and dear to his heart was not a difficult one."
The parties had agreed to settle last month, but the terms of the agreement were only made public Thursday.
One month after the actor made the claims about the attack, the then-Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson accused Smollett of taking “advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”
“This publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn’t earn and certainly didn’t deserve,” Johnson said.
The city accused the actor of paying $3,500 to two Nigerian brothers, with whom he was “friends,” to help him stage and orchestrate the attack, according to the 2019 complaint.
In February 2019, an attorney for the brothers released a statement saying they have "tremendous regret over their involvement in this situation.”
The statement continued: “They understand how it has impacted people across the nation, particularly minority communities and especially those who have been victims of hate crimes themselves."
