Jussie Smollett to pay $50,000 to charity to settle lawsuit filed by city of Chicago
Former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett has agreed to pay $50,000 to a Chicago charity to settle a lawsuit the city filed against him, seeking restitution for the cost of investigating his claims he was the victim of a hate crime, which police determined was a hoax.
Smollett was convicted in 2021 on charges accusing him of staging a racist and homophobic hate crime against himself in 2019 near his Streeterville apartment. His conviction was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court last year on double jeopardy grounds.
The city sued Smollett two months after his arrest, seeking to have him reimburse the city more than $130,000 for the cost of the Chicago Police Department probe that determined his claims were a hoax.
Smollett filed a countersuit against the city for malicious prosecution, maintaining the attack was real.
Last month, federal court records revealed the city and Smollett had reached a settlement agreement, but terms of the deal were not made public until Thursday, when the city's Law Department confirmed Smollett has agreed to make a $50,000 charitable donation in exchange for dismissing the lawsuit. Smollett will make the donation to Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts, a local organization that provides community, health, and education opportunities for Chicago's underprivileged youth.
"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 Law Department spokesperson said.
Smollett has claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack near apartment after he walked to a nearby Subway in Streeterville in January 2019, but police and prosecutors have said an investigation determined Smollett staged the attack against himself as a "publicity stunt" because he was upset with his salary on "Empire."
Under former Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, prosecutors agreed to drop the original charges against him within weeks of his arrest. Amid questions of Foxx's handling of the case, a special prosecutor later was appointed to reinvestigate the case, and Smollett was charged a second time.
Two brothers, Abel and Ola Osundairo, testified against him at his trial, saying he paid them to stage the attack.
The Illinois Supreme Court later ruled that trial violated his Fifth Amendment rights protecting him against double jeopardy, and ordered the case against him dismissed.
Smollett released a statement about the donation Friday, writing in part, "Making a donation to benefit Chicago communities that are too often neglected by those in power will always be something I support. I've made a $50,000.00 donation to Building Brighter Futures (BBF) Center for the Arts, a local nonprofit doing incredible work nurturing self-expression, creativity and exploration of the arts for Chicago youth. This organization was of my choosing and I'm comforted that there will be at least one winner from this experience."
"Lastly, I'm grateful to have had the resources to defend myself. So many do not. They are backed into corners to take deals or confess to crimes they did not actually commit," the statement continued. "In their honor, I am donating an additional $10,000.00 to the Chicago Torture Justice Center who provides resources to communities healing from the violence of the Chicago Police Department."
