Jussie Smollet’s attorneys have addressed claims that his attack was “staged”.
The Empire star was hospitalised after being physically attacked by two men, who also shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him, late last month.
The actor gave a report to the police, who then took two men into custody and released them earlier this week.
Following their release, NBC reported that a source claimed that Jussie knew the two men and that he played a role in planning the incident – a claim which the actor’s attorneys have strongly denied.
Chief Communications Officer of the Chicago Police Deprtment, Anthony Guglielmi, has since released a statement to E! News in which he said: “We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation. We’ve reached out to the Empire cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”
Jussie’s attorneys have also released a statement about the claims against the 36-year-old: “As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with.”
“He has now been further victimised by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”
“One of these purported suspects was Jussie’s personal trainer who he hired to ready him physically for a music video. It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity.”
“Jussie and his attorneys anticipate being further updated by the Chicago Police Department on the status of the investigation and will continue to cooperate. At the present time, Jussie and his attorneys have no inclination to respond to ‘unnamed’ sources inside of the investigation, but will continue discussions through official channels,” the statement ended.
Earlier this week Jussie gave his first interview since the incident and spoke out about people who have questioned the attack: “I’m pissed off. It’s the attackers, but it’s also the attacks. You know, at first it was a thing of, if I tell the truth, that’s it, because it’s the truth.”
“Then it became a thing of like, oh, how can you doubt that? How do you not believe that? It’s the truth. And then it became a thing of, oh, it’s not necessarily that you don’t believe that this is the truth, you don’t even want to see the truth.?
