Jussie Smollett Seen Wearing Rope Around His Neck on Night of Alleged Attack in Police Footage
Five months after Jussie Smollett claimed that he was attacked in an alleged hate crime, surveillance footage of police entering the actor’s apartment has been released.
On Monday, the Chicago Police Department released the recording of the moment an officer entered the Empire star’s residence following the alleged incident, according to video clips obtained by CBS Chicago.
In the body cam footage, an officer asks Smollett if he wants to take off the white rope that is seen hanging around his neck.
“Yeah, I do, I just wanted you all to see it,” Smollett replies as he begins to take off the rope.
“There’s bleach on me,” Smollett, who wears a white and red sweater in the recording, explains to the officer. “They poured bleach on me.”
A male voice is then heard asking police if the conversation is being filmed before the man asks the officer that he “turn it off.”
“There’s bleach on me. They poured bleach on me,” Jussie Smollett told police the night of the alleged attack in Chicago. “Do you want to take it off or anything?” Chicago police officer asks Jussie Smollett about the rope around his neck. https://t.co/4mmKwNVaBb pic.twitter.com/WfsuKc3PrW
— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) June 24, 2019
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According to CBS Chicago, the Chicago Police Department released almost 70 hours of video on Monday in relation to Smollett’s case.
At the end of January, Smollett claimed that two men attacked him — hurling racist and homophobic insults, dousing him with a chemical and slipping a rope around his neck — in an alleged homophobic and racist hate crime in Chicago sparking national outrage.
The case took a turn when authorities alleged he’d staged the whole thing and paid the men in question, indicting him in March with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false report.
He pleaded not guilty to allegations that he lied to police, and all charges were suddenly dropped at the end of March.
“I’ve been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one,” he told reporters outside of a Chicago courthouse where the charges were dismissed. “I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of doing what I was accused of.”
Authorities say he has not been exonerated of the alleged conduct, nor does this mean there will be no further criminal charges brought against him.
RELATED VIDEO: Jussie Smollett Likely Wouldn’t Have Gone to Prison Even if Found Guilty at Trial
Since then, he’s been let go from the hit Fox musical drama that made him a celebrity.
Last week, Smollett celebrated his 37th birthday and said that he is “still smiling” in the wake of the scandal.
“Grateful for LOVE. Grateful for y’all,” he captioned a throwback baby photo. “Grateful for another year around the sun. #SummerSolstice #StillSmiling.”
