The city of Chicago and former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett have reached a settlement six years after the city sued the TV star.
The city sued Smollett in April 2019, three months after he claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood.
However, police and city officials later said he orchestrated the hoax hate crime against himself. The city’s suit accused him of submitting a false police report on Jan. 29, 2019, saying he knew his attackers and planned the attack, and it sought $130,000 in expenses spent on the police investigation.
Smollett had filed a countersuit denying that he orchestrated the attack, and he denied making a false police report.
On Monday, the city and Smollett told the court they have settled “but need more time to finalize documentation.”
The details of the settlement were not disclosed.
A status hearing set for this week has been reset for May 29, according to the court docket.
The Chicago Department of Law and an attorney for Smollett did not respond to requests for comment.
Back in January 2019, Smollett reported to police he was the victim of a hate crime and that he was attacked because he is Black and gay. Two men — brothers Ola and Abimbola Osundairo — were arrested. Police later said Smollett had recruited the brothers to help him stage the attack.
Smollett was arrested in February 2019, and the following month a grand jury indicted him on suspicion of filing a false police report. Then Cook County State Attorney Kimberly Foxx dropped the charges later.
A special prosecutor revived the case, and in February 2020 Smollett was charged with six disorderly conduct counts, leading to a trial.
In December 2021, he was found guilty on five of the six counts. He was sentenced in 2022 to 150 days in jail and 30 months’ probation.
In that trial, the Osundairo brothers said that Smollett hired them to stage an attack as a ploy for public attention and that they were paid with a $3,500 check. Smollett argued that the check was written for personal training services and denied the claims that he staged the attack.
The Illinois Supreme Court overturned that conviction last November over prosecutorial issues. The state Supreme Court found that Smollett should not have been charged after he entered a nonprosecution agreement with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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