Jussie Smollett: Empire actor faked Chicago attack because he was dissatisfied with salary, police say
Jussie Smollett staged his own attack because he was dissatisfied with his salary, according to police.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson spoke to the press on Thursday morning, delivering a powerful statement about the case in which Smollett is now accused of orchestrating and paying for his own assault.
According to Johnson, the Empire actor sent a racist and homophobic letter to himself at the Fox studio lot before the attack.
Smollett, who is accused of filing a false police report, was charged on Wednesday with felony disorder conduct, following three weeks of mounting speculation. He turned himself in at central booking early Thursday. The charge could bring up to three years in prison and force the actor to pay for the cost of the investigation.
While speaking to the press, 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 later added.
Smollett told police he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop at around 2 am on 29 January. The actor, who is black and gay, said they beat him, made racist and homophobic comments, poured some unknown chemical substance on him and looped a rope around his neck before fleeing.
Police say the investigation shifted after they questioned two brothers who were in the area that morning.
Johnson said Smollett allegedly paid the brothers $3,500 to stage the attack, “[dragging] Chicago’s reputation through the mud in the process”.
The superintendent, who acknowledged Chicago’s “problems” and “racial divide”, said he was delivering his statement “not only as the superintendent of the Chicago police department, but also as a black man who’s spent his entire life living in the city of Chicago”.
“Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?” Johnson later said during the news conference.
“How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile?
“How can an individual who has been embraced by the city of Chicago turn around and slap everyone in this city in the face by making these false claims?”
The felony charge emerged on the same day detectives and the two brothers testified before a grand jury. Smollett’s attorneys met with prosecutors and police, but it was unknown what they discussed or whether Smollett attended the meeting.
In a statement, attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson said Smollett “enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked.”
Additional reporting by agencies.
