City of Chicago Will Continue Civil Suit against Jussie Smollett to Recover Investigation Costs

Chicago will continue its civil suit against Jussie Smollett after the former “Empire” actor was indicted Tuesday on felony charges relating to allegations that he paid two acquaintances to stage an anti-gay and racist attack on him last year.

The city seeks to have Smollett reimburse Chicago for roughly $130,000 authorities spent investigating the alleged attack along with other costs adding up to almost half a million dollars.

“We look forward to reviewing the indictment and, as we have said previously, the City stands by our original complaint seeking to recover costs for Mr. Smollett’s false statements,” Chicago’s Law Department said in a statement. “We again thank the Chicago Police Department detectives for their hard work on this case the original investigation.”

Smollett, 37, who is a gay African-American, faces six felony counts of disorderly conduct after he made four separate reports to police last year claiming that two men attacked him as he was walking home around 2a.m. on January 29, 2019. Smollett said the pair punched him, put a noose around his neck, and shouted, “this is MAGA country,” along with racist and anti-gay slurs.

The former “Empire” actor is scheduled to appear in court February 24.

Smollett’s indictment by special prosecutor Dan Webb on Tuesday came after county prosecutors dropped sixteen grand jury charges against the actor last year, even as evidence from an investigation suggested he had in fact staged the attack in an attempt to boost his career. Smollett’s record was wiped clean, sparking a public outcry, including from the mayor’s office.

The Chicago Police Department said Smollett had hired two acquaintances of his, brothers from Nigeria, to stage the attack in order to raise his public profile. The brothers later sued Smollett’s attorneys for defamation, saying the actor, whom they worked with on “Empire” had “directed every aspect of the attack.”

State’s Attorney Kim Foxx received heavy backlash for dropping the original charges against Smollett, critics arguing that anyone who filed a false police report could conceivably expect the same leniency as that granted to Smollett.