Attorneys representing Empire actor Jussie Smollett said this morning that prosecutors in Chicago have dropped charges alleging that he staged the hate crime he claimed to be a victim of in January, the Associated Press reports. Earlier this month, Smollett pleaded not guilty to 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct early.
“We believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case,” a Cook County prosecutor said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him,” Smollett’s legal team said in a statement issued this morning. “Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgement.”
Back in January, Smollett said he was attacked by two men who threatened him with a noose and shouted “This is MAGA Country”. Weeks after an outpouring of support for Smollett, police concluded that the musician and actor had hired two friends from Nigeria to beat him up near his apartment in Chicago. The status of the investigation moving forward is unclear.
