Empire actor Jussie Smollett staged a fake hate crime attack on himself because he was unhappy about his pay on the hit Fox show, Chicago police said Thursday.
“The stunt was orchestrated because he was dissatisfied with his salary,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters in a Thursday morning news conference. “Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and and anger of racism to promote his career.”
It’s the latest twist in a case that began with an outpouring of sympathy for Smollett after the initial reports of the incident surfaced.
Smollett turned himself into police early Thursday after he was charged Wednesday night with felony disorderly conduct in filing a false police report. He has a bond hearing scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Smollett, who is black and openly gay, told police he was the victim of a hate crime, claiming on Jan. 29 that two people yelled homophobic and racist statements at him, beat him, threw bleach on him and put a noose around his neck. Among the things Smollett said the attackers shouted was “this is MAGA country,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign slogan.
Smollet’s story received tremendous media attention and support from the public, including condemnations of the attack from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Kamala Harris and Trump. The support quickly turned to skepticism as certain portions of Smollett’s account were found to be inconclusive. A pair of Nigerian brothers apprehended in the investigation were let go without charges, and police said phone records they had received from Smollett did not help them in the case.
Johnson said on Thursday that Smollett had paid the two men $3,500 by check to stage the attack after he sent himself a letter with racist and homophobic language in order to gain attention.
“This publicity stunt was a scar Chicago didn’t earn and didn’t deserve,” he said. “Our city has problems, we know that. But to put the national spotlight on Chicago for something that is both egregious and untrue is simply shameful.”
Representatives for Smollett did not immediately comment. His lawyers did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, but issued a statement saying that they plan to mount an “aggressive defense.”
They added that 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,” according to the Associated Press.
