OFFICIAL: ACTOR COACHED ATTACK
Actor sought higher pay, a career boost
Prosecutor says actor Jussie Smollett gave instructions to two brothers for attack on himself.
CHICAGO — “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett gave detailed instructions to two brothers who helped him stage a racist, anti-gay attack on himself, including giving them specific slurs to yell, telling them to shout “MAGA country” and pointing out a surveillance camera he thought would record the beating, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Police said Smollett planned the hoax because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted to promote his career. Before the attack, he also sent a letter that threatened him to the Chicago studio where “Empire” is shot, police said.
Smollett, who is black and gay, turned himself in to face accusations that he filed a false police report last month when he told authorities he was attacked Jan. 29 in downtown Chicago by two masked men who hurled racist and antigay slurs and looped a rope around his neck, police said.
He “took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career,” police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
“This publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn’t earn and certainly didn’t deserve,” he added.
As part of the instructions, Smollett also told the brothers to put the rope around his neck, Assistant State’s Attorney Risa Lanier said.
His surveillance camera plans were thwarted since it was pointed another way and didn’t have a view of the beating.
At Smollett’s first court appearance, a judge set bond at $100,000, meaning that he had to post $10,000 to be released. Smollett’s attorneys asked for him to be freed on his own recognizance, but the judge, who is also black, rejected that idea and said he was particularly bothered by the allegations involving the noose.
Smollett, released a couple of hours after the hearing, said little during the proceedings, except to state his name. He didn’t speak to reporters.
One of the attorneys, Jack Prior, told the judge that Smollett “maintains these are outrageous allegations” and denies they are true.
The FBI has been investigating the threatening letter. Johnson would not say whether Smollett could face additional charges for that.
The companies that make “Empire,” Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television, issued a statement Thursday saying they were “evaluating the situation” and “considering our options.”
In less than a month, Smollett went from a seemingly sympathetic victim of a hate crime to being accused of fabricating the entire thing. The 36-yearold was charged Wednesday with felony disorderly conduct, which could mean up to three years in prison and force him to pay for the investigation into his report of a beating.