Jussie Smollett is back on the set of Empire, following his release from jail.
On Thursday morning, Chief Communications Officer Anthony Guglielmi announced that Jussie had been arrested after he turned himself in to police in Chicago.
The news came just hours after the actor was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report.
In the report, Jussie claimed that he had been brutally attacked by two individuals in Chicago in the early hours of January 29.
Jussie Smollett leaves court after posting bond https://t.co/kL445PPswv pic.twitter.com/7XeMoTuET5
— Variety (@Variety) February 21, 2019
Following his arrest, the 36-year-old attended his bond hearing in a Chicago courtroom, and a judge set the actor’s bond at $100,000.
According to E! News, Jussie was also ordered to surrender his passport.
In a press conference on Thursday morning, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson claimed, “Smollett attempted to gain attention by sending a false letter that relied on racial, homophobic and political language.”
Chicago PD lays into Jussie Smollett in a post-arrest press conference https://t.co/R7Hekx45h8
— UPROXX (@UPROXX) February 21, 2019
“When that didn’t work, Smollett paid $3,500 to stage this attack and drag Chicago’s reputation through the mud in the process. And why? This stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary, so he concocted a story about being attacked.”
“This announcement today recognizes that Empire actor Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career. Why would anyone, especially an African-American use a noose…to further his public profile?”
Despite claims from Chicago police, Jussie fiercely protested his innocence after being released from jail on Thursday.
In a statement, the 36-year-old’s legal team said, “Mr Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence and feels betrayed by a system that apparently wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing.”
“Today we witnessed an organised law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system.”
“The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election,” the statement claimed.
