‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett Charged With Filing False Report Over “Racist, Homophobic Atttack”
A complicated story draws to its end.
It looks like the complicated, sad story of Jussie Smollett’s alleged assault is finally coming to a close, with news today that the Empire star is being formally charged for “filing a false report” over the racially motivated homophobic attack that supposedly took place on January 29.
The story began when Smollett was allegedly attacked by two men wearing ski masks while walking through the streets of Chicago. According to the actor, the two men, who wore ski masks, beat him, placed a noose around his neck, shouted “MAGA”, a reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, and poured bleach over his head.
Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report. Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest. pic.twitter.com/LvBSYE2kVj
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 21, 2019
As pointed out by The Atlantic, there were elements to this story that immediately attracted — if not exactly outright suspicion — then confusion. The two men harangued the actor with homophobic slurs, implying that they either had knowledge of Smollett’s personal life, or knowledge of Empire itself (the character Smollett plays is, like the actor, a member of the LGBTIQ+ community). It is arguable that neither the actor nor the show are exactly household names in America.
More troubling than that, the men had the bleach and the noose on them when they encountered the actor — it was later revealed that they had bought it from a local hardware store four days before the attack — implying that they either had exact knowledge of where he was set to be the night of the incident, or that they were looking for any victim and by chance ran into Smollett, who they immediately recognised.
To that end, shortly after the story first broke, attracting international attention (and the support of two democratic frontrunners in the 2020 American election, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris), rumours began to circulate that Smollett had staged the attack.
Breaking: @JussieSmollett has been indicted for filing a false police report. This per the Chicago Police Department
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) February 21, 2019
These rumours initially came from anonymous sources with a supposed knowledge of the case, but were vague and unverifiable enough that they deserved to be taken with a grain of salt.
However, shortly afterwards, a new, strange element of the case was revealed — it turned out the two men charged with the attack, brothers from Nigeria, had previously appeared on the show Empire as extras. Later still, it turned out that Smollett followed both men on Instagram, and the actor’s own lawyer has confirmed that one of the brothers was Smollett’s personal trainer.
A police spokesperson has since confirmed that Smollett is being formally charged for disorderly conduct, and for filing a false police report. The police are currently in contact with the actor’s lawyers, organising a “reasonable surrender” for his arrest.