Jussie Smollett – Chicago Sues Actor To Recoup Cost of Hate Crime Probe
Jussie Smollett – Chicago Sues Actor To Recoup Cost of Hate Crime Probe
Jussie Smollett has officially been sued. According to reports, the city of Chicago sued him today (Thursday, April 11th), as it seeks to recoup the cost of police overtime spent investigating his alleged hate crime.
The ‘Empire’ actor is accused of staging the Jan. 29 assault/hate crime. According to Smollett, two men physically attacked him, put a noose around his neck, poured liquid on him and shouted racist and homophobic slurs. He was indicted for filing false statements, but the criminal charges were dropped on March 26.
According to the Chicago Police Department, they worked 1,836 hours of overtime in the search for his attackers. This is said to have cost taxpayers $130,106.15. Under a city ordinance, the city is entitled to recoup three times its total damages, or about $390,000. The city will also seek unspecified attorneys’ fees and costs.
The civil complaint was filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court.
Meanwhile, Jussieis on a vacation with his family in Hawaii.
Earlier this month, officials announced that they had plans to sue, due to the fact that Smollett refused to pay for the investigation the city carried out for his alleged attack. The city’s statement read:
“Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false report on January 29, 2019. The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Once it is filed, the Law Department will send a courtesy copy of the complaint to Mr. Smollett’s L.A. based legal team.”
What are your thoughts about the lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
Written by Miata Shanay