Source: Brandon Caldwell / Radio One Houston
In a strange and I mean a very strange turn of events, Prosecutors in Chicago have dropped all 16 charges against Actor Jussie Smollet of the hit TV Show “Empire.
Smollet was accused of staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself. Some believe that he did it to escalate his popularity to get more money from the show “Empire.”
Jussie Smollet was charged with 16 felonies in Cook County, which is Chicago. Prosecutors said charges were dropped after reviewing all the circumstances of the case, as well as Smollotte’s community service and forfeiture of his bond which was $10,000.
SMOLLETTE — “Not for a moment was it in vain,” “I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I was accused of.”
Police said they had evidence to prove that he paid two brothers to stage the attack in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood because he wasn’t satisfied with his salary on the show, but Smollett and his defense team have maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. He was indicted by a grand jury and charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct.
Source: Cook County Sheriff’s Office / Cook County Sheriff’s Office
Smollett agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond to the city of Chicago as a condition of the charges being dropped. The judge also granted the defense team’s motion to immediately seal the criminal records related to the case.
SMOLLETT’S ATTORNEY PATRICIA BROWN — “His record is sealed so that nobody can go get that file and look through it because it should not have existed in the first place, as far as we’re concerned.”
However, prosecutors still believe that Smollett fabricated the incident, despite the charges being dropped.
