Jussie Smollett to make charitable donations to settle Chicago’s hoax attack lawsuit

May 24, 2025
Jussie Smollett to make charitable donations to settle Chicago's hoax attack lawsuit Jussie Smollett to make charitable donations to settle Chicago's hoax attack lawsuit

Weeks after the city of Chicago and Jussie Smollett announced a settlement to resolve their yearslong legal battle over the actor’s 2019 claim that he was the victim of a hate crime, Smollett took to social media to disclose the terms of the agreement.

Smollett said Friday he would donate $50,000 to the Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts charity as part of a deal to secure the case’s dismissal. Smollett said would be making an additional $10,000 donation to the Chicago Torture Justice Center.

NBC News reached out to both organizations and the city of Chicago to confirm Smollett’s donations and details of the settlement, but did not immediately receive a response to a request for comment.

The actor said his decision to settle the civil suit was “not the most difficult” to make and allowed him to support the communities “too often neglected by those in power.”

Smollett, who is Black and gay, first reported a hate crime committed against him in Janu 2019, alleging that two men confronted him with racial and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck and poured bleach on him.

However, police and city officials later said he orchestrated the hoax hate crime against himself. The city’s suit accused Smollett of submitting a false police report on Jan. 29, 2019, saying he knew his attackers and planned the attack, and it sought $130,000 in expenses spent on the police investigation.

Smollett countersued, denying that he orchestrated the attack.

Brothers Olabingo and Abimbola Osundairo, who worked on the “Empire” set, said they were paid by Smollett to stage the hate crime and testified against the actor during his trial.

Smollett was found guilty on five counts of felony disorderly conduct in December 2021, and sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months’ probation in March 2022, but the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the conviction in November 2024 over prosecutorial issues.

The state high court ruled that Smollett should have never been charged in the first place after entering a nonprosecution agreement with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Smollett has maintained his innocence over the years. He ended his post thanking his supporters.

byWeb Desk
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