Crime & Law
Jussie Smollett Agrees to Make $50K Charitable Donation to Resolve City of Chicago Lawsuit
Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty at Leighton Criminal Court Building, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Pool / Chicago Tribune)
Former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett has agreed to make a $50,000 contribution to a local foundation in order to resolve a lawsuit brought against him by the city of Chicago after the actor allegedly staged a hate crime against himself in 2019.
Attorneys for the city earlier this month announced they had reached a settlement with Smollett — which sought to recover investigatory costs connected to Smollett’s allegedly fake police report — but details had not yet been made public.
On Thursday, the city announced the case will be dismissed in exchange for Smollett making a charitable contribution of $50,000 to BBF Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts, a local organization that provides community, health and education opportunities for Chicago’s underprivileged youth.
A Cook County jury found Smollett guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021 connected to the alleged hoax hate crime, but those convictions were tossed out by the Illinois Supreme Court late last year.
“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),” the city’s Law Department said in a statement Thursday. “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.”
After his trial, Smollett was ordered to serve the first 150 days of a 30-month probation sentence in jail, though he ended up spending only six days in custody before he was released pending appeal.
In tossing out the convictions, the state Supreme Court ruled that special prosecutor Dan Webb had no standing to recharge Smollett after former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her office initially resolved the case through a non-prosecution agreement, which saw Smollett forfeit the $10,000 he paid in bond and complete 16 hours of community service.
Smollett claimed to be the victim of an attack by two men near his Streeterville apartment in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2019. He told investigators his attackers yelled racist and homophobic slurs before they hit him in his face, poured a chemical substance on him and wrapped a rope around his neck.
Following an investigation, Chicago police determined Smollett had hired the men — brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo — to stage the attack. Smollett was then charged by Cook County prosecutors in February 2019.
After those charges were filed, the city came after Smollett, demanding he pay back the $130,000 the CPD spent on overtime as it investigated his claims.
