Chicago Suing Jussie Smollett After Repayment Deadline Passes

Updated: April 4, 2019 4:27pm

Jussie Smollett, the actor who plays Jamal Lyon, the openly gay individual on the popular FOX series, Empire, had 16 total felony charges against him with potential years behind bars after allegedly staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself back on January 29. The case closed on March 26.

On Wednesday, a deadline was placed on Smollett by Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuelfor. Smollett is required to repay the City $130,000 for the sum of costs of the investigation into the alleged attack against him, Chicago will also be suing the actor.

“Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019, a spokesperson of the Midwestern metropolis said Thursday as it became EOD in Chicago. “The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Once filed, the Law Department will send a courtesy copy of the complaint to Mr. Smollett’s L.A. based legal team.”

Under Chicago by-laws and mentioned in the letter Smollett was sent on March 28, the city can demand more than $390,000 from the actor, which is considered three times the original amount plus the court and attorney costs

Representatives on behalf of Smollett had no comment regarding the matter.