Jussie Smollett to settle with city of Chicago six years after his alleged hate crime hoax

Actor and musician Jussie Smollett has settled his legal dispute with the City of Chicago. The settlement was reached on April 28, 2025, pending the finalization of the documentation, as per a court entry. The status hearing for the settlement, which was due to be held on April 30, has been rescheduled for May 29, 2025.

The settlement follows a six-year-long dispute between Smollett and city officials. In January 2019, Smollett complained to the Chicago police, stating that he was a victim of a hate crime. Smollett, in his complaint, claimed that he had been physically assaulted by two men.

The alleged incident, according to Smollett, had taken place at East Lower North Water Street in Chicago, as per The New York Times. Smollett had further alleged that apart from being at the receiving end of physical violence, his alleged attackers had also used racist and homophobic slurs against him.

Hoax allegations against Jussie Smollett

The Chicago Police Department began investigating the matter after Smollett’s complaint, treating the incident as a hate crime. However, in a remarkable turn of events, Smollett was accused of staging the attack. Based on the investigation, City of Chicago officials alleged that the attack on Smollett was a hoax staged and paid for by the actor himself, as per The New York Times.

NBC News reported that based on evidence collected during the investigation, the City of Chicago filed a case in court alleging that Smollett’s hoax had cost the city $130,000, money that was used to investigate the allegedly staged hate crime.

In response to the lawsuit filed by the City of Chicago, Smollett had filed a counter lawsuit against the allegations, and contested the city's demand for reibursement, reported CBS News.

Smollett, who was charged on 16 felony counts, had intially made a deal with the prsecutors in return for the charges being dropped, as per Entertainment Weekly. However, he was tried by a special prosecutor, and convicted. The news outlet reported that on appealing the decision, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of the actor, and overturned his conviction.

Impact of the hoax allegations on Jussie Smollett's acting career

After it was reported that the actor had allegedly staged the hate crime, Smollett’s acting career took a hit. As per The Hollywood Reporter, by 2019, Smollett made as much as $125,000 per episode of the series Empire, a significant rise from when he had started appearing on the Fox series in 2015.

However, after the hoax allegations, Smollett’s character in Empire was written off. The actor is yet to receive a prominent role in film or television ever since reports of the allegations broke out. He appeared on The Lost Holliday, in 2024, a film which he wrote and directed.

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Smollett was the subject of a lot of negative press after the hoax allegations. Many prominent personalities and politicians, who had initially come out in support of the actor when he had claimed to have been a victim of a hate crime, backtracked their statements, some even accusing him of belittling the experience of those who have experienced hate crime.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the Chicago police even alleged that Smollett had staged the attack on himself as he was dissatisfied with the money he was receiving for his work on the show.

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