The years-long legal saga following the hate crime hoax orchestrated by “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett might just finally be over. The city of Chicago has agreed to settle the beef they had with the actor after he used their streets to stage the attack.
The Illinois city reached a settlement after filing a lawsuit against the actor six years ago. In the suit, they accused Smollett of submitting a false police report, claimed he knew his assailants and planned the whole scene. The city sought $130,000 in monetary damages for the police work done in the investigation, per NBC News.
Authorities said back in 2019, Smollett contacted the police to report being attacked by two men from the “Empire” set who allegedly assaulted him while yelling homophobic and racist slurs. However, it was discovered during trial that Smollett recruited the alleged culprits, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, to stage the attack.
Smollett was originally charged with staging a fake hate crime against himself. However, that case was dropped after it was found that Cook County prosecutor Kim Foxx mishandled things, per CBS News. After a special prosecutor was brought in to reinvestigate, Smollett faced a new indictment and was convicted on five counts of disorderly conduct and lying to the police for the scheme, per court documents. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail in 2021 but was released after six days as he sought an appeal, the report says.
Smollett recently had his conviction overturned after arguing his second set of charges were due to double jeopardy, violating his right to due process. He also filed a countersuit against the city, insisting he did not create a plot against himself. However, on Monday, both sides decided to bury the hatchet.
The details of the settlement have no been disclosed and according to NBC, both sides informed the court they needed “more time to finalize documentation.” The report says a status hearing was set for the end of this month.