Jussie Smollett has been charged with filing a false police report.
The actor was attacked by two men in January and claimed that they shouted homophobic and racial slurs at him.
It was later reported by NBC that the Empire star was involved in the planning of the incident and that he allegedly paid two men to attack him – claims which Jussie’s attorneys denied.
Chief Communications Officer of the Chicago Police Department, Anthony Guglielmi has now said that the 36-year-old has been charged with disorderly conduct and for filing a false police report.
Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report. Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest. pic.twitter.com/LvBSYE2kVj
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 21, 2019
“Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report. Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest,” he tweeted.
The news comes just hours after the communications officer revealed that Jussie was being treated as a suspect in the case.
“Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked,” his lawyers, Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson said in a statement.
