Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett has spoken out for the first time since he settled a civil lawsuit with the city of Chicago over his alleged attack, and agreed to make a $50,000 donation to charity.
Details of the settlement were announced Thursday. The actor maintained he did nothing wrong in a lengthy statement he posted to Instagram on Friday, May 23.
Smollett, 42, accused Chicago leaders of spreading a “false narrative” about the alleged attack that happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2019.
“Over six years ago, after it was reported I had been jumped, City Officials in Chicago set out to convince the public that I willfully set an assault against myself. This false narrative has left a stain on my character that will not soon disappear,” Smollett’s statement read.
“These officials wanted my money and wanted my confession for something I did not do. Today, it should be clear….They have received neither,” the actor continued.
Related: Lee Daniels Not Sure ‘What to Believe’ About Alleged Jussie Smollett Attack
He noted that the $50,000 payment was voluntary and would benefit a nonprofit organization.
“I’m comforted that there will be at least one winner from this experience,” Smollett continued.
In exchange for his donation, the city agreed to dismiss a $130,000 lawsuit it filed against him over the cost for the Chicago Police Department to investigate his claims.
Smollett said his decision to settle the lawsuit with the city “was not the most difficult one to make.”
“After repeatedly refusing to pay the City, I was presented with an opportunity to make a charitable donation in exchange for the case being dismissed,” he stated.
“Despite what happened there politically, Chicago was my home for over 5 years and the people became my family. Therefore, making a donation to benefit Chicago communities that are too often neglected by those in power will always be something I support,” Smollett added.
The donation will go toward the Building Brighter Futures Center, a local organization that offers health and education opportunities to underprivileged youth, according to its website.
Smollett said he chose the charity and will donate another $10,000 to the Chicago Torture Justice Center, which the group says addresses “traumas of police violence and institutionalized racism.”
Back in 2019, Smollett claimed two masked men — who turned out to be his friends Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo — put a noose around his neck, and doused him with bleach, while using racial and homophobic slurs.
After investigating, police concluded the actor made the story up and paid the siblings to attack him. Smollett was charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.
At a news conference, then-Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said, “I stand behind the detectives’ investigation.”
While Rahm Emanuel, who was the city’s mayor at the time, slammed Smollett for using a hoax “to self-promote your career.”
However, then-Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx dropped the charges.
Amid public outrage, a special prosecutor was appointed to reexamine the case. In February 2020, Smollett was charged again. He was tried and found guilty on five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct in December 2021.
The Osundairo brothers testified that Smollett paid them $3,500 for the attack and gave them lines to yell, including “MAGA country.”
The actor was sentenced in 2022 to 150 days in jail and 30 months probation. He served six days before being released pending an appeal.
The Illinois Supreme Court eventually overturned the conviction. The court found that Smollett should not have been charged after he entered a no prosecution agreement with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
In a defamation lawsuit the Osundairo brothers filed against Smollett’s attorneys in 2019, they said the actor orchestrated the attack to gain sympathy and boost his standing with the producers of Empire.
“He wanted his employer and the public to notice and appreciate him as a successful Black, openly gay actor,” the lawsuit stated.
Read the full statement from Jussie Smollett below:
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