« Empire » actor Jussie Smollett appeared in court Thursday after surrendering to authorities in the early morning on one felony count of disorderly conduct for…
« Empire » actor Jussie Smollett appeared in court Thursday after surrendering to authorities in the early morning on one felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. The judge set Smollett’s bond at $100,000. He posted bond and was released from custody shortly before 4 p.m. Smollett did not speak as he left the Cook County Jail, and was blocked from the crush of media and cameras by a large bodyguard, who he kept hold of with his hands on his shoulders. Among those with Smollett when he left were his attorneys and what appeared to be a family member, possibly one of his sisters. He got into an SUV that then left, headed southbound on California. His legal team told the judge he was reporting for work on the « Empire » set at Cinespace studios in the city’s Douglas Park neighborhood. Risa Lanier, chief of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Prosecutions Bureau, read the bond proffer in full after court, describing details of the crime for the public for the first time. »He wanted Ola [Osundairo] to place a rope around his neck, pour gasoline on him and yell ‘This is MAGA country,' » she said. Smollett is due back in court March 14, when he is expected to enter his plea.20th Century Fox and Fox Entertainment released a statement Thursday morning, saying, « We understand the seriousness of this matter and we respect the legal process. We are evaluating the situation and we are considering our options. »At a press conference Thursday morning, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the actor initially faked a letter using racist and homophobic language. When that didn’t get attention, Johnson said, Smollett paid two brothers $3,500 to stage the attack, because he was « dissatisfied with his salary. » »Why would anyone, especially an African American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? » Johnson wondered. Johnson said detectives had some questions about Smollett’s story from the beginning, but that anyone who reports a hate crime is treated as a victim until the investigation leads elsewhere. »My concern is that hate crimes will now publicly be met with a level of skepticism that previously didn’t happen, » Johnson said. »Absolutely justice would be an apology to this city that he smeared, um, admitting what he did, and then be man enough to offer what he should offer up in terms of all the resources that were put in use, » Johnson added. The TV actor claimed he was the victim of a vicious hate crime in the Streeterville neighborhood on January 29. He said two men physically attacked him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs, threw a chemical liquid on him, and looped a rope around his neck. Two days after the alleged attack, Chicago police released surveillance images of two people they said they considered persons of interest in the attack.
