Actor Jussie Smollett and the City of Chicago have reportedly reached a settlement in the long running hate crime hoax saga.
The Empire star received a wave of community and celebrity support in January 2019 after he claimed to have been attacked, burned with chemicals and had a rope tied around his neck by two men shouting “This is MAGA country” – a reference to Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan.
It was later revealed that the two men were known to Jussie Smollett, with both of them having appeared as extras on his television program, and one of them having worked as his personal trainer.
Police claimed that Smollett faked the attack had had paid the brothers $3,500 to carry it out. They allege that the actor was deliberately creating publicity for himself so he could negotiate a higher paycheck on the TV show Empire.
The city filed a lawsuit against Smollett holding him liable for the US$130,000 cost of the police investigation into the alleged crime. Smollett later filed a countersuit against the city.
In December 2021 he was convicted on five felony counts for staging the crime, he struck a plea deal that saw him forfeit his $10,000 bond and undertake 15 hours of community service. Later, after people spoke out against the treatment he had received, Smollett was prosecuted and sentenced to 150 days in jail.
He was released after just three days, and later the conviction was overturned over prosecutorial issues.
The details of the settlement between the two parties have not yet been made public and the parties will return to court at the end of this month. Both parties have declined requests for comment from the media.
Smollet’s profile increased sustainably after he was cast as Jamal Lyon on the TV Empire. He played a gay musician struggling to get the approval of his father, a record label mogul. The depiction was praised for its positive portrayal of a Black gay man. Smollett himself came out during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The controversy appears to have paused Smollett’s acting career for many years.
He’s shifted into directing, in 2021 he directed the gay themed film B-Boy Blues about two Black gay men from different backgrounds who fall in love.
Last year he appeared in and directed the feature film The Lost Holiday in which a mother learns that her estranged son had died. When she travels to Los Angelses to take care of his funeral arrangements she discovers had a husband that she was previously unaware of.
