Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett is going through six new prices of mendacity to the police a couple of racist and homophobic assault he allegedly staged himself in January 2019.
As TV Fanatic beforehand reported, the 37-year-old alleged that he was attacked by two masked men who put a noose round his neck and poured a chemical substance over him.
Town of Chicago went on to accuse him of falsifying a police report and planning the assault. He was initially hit with 16 felony prices in February 2019, however they have been dropped in March of that yr.
Later in 2019, it was revealed {that a} decide introduced a particular prosecutor in to evaluate whether or not the choice to drop all prices was the best one.
Whereas the scandal raged on, Smollett was initially written out of the ultimate two episodes of Empire Season 5 — a sequence during which the actor received a whole lot of reward for his portrayal of Jamal Lyon.
There have been conflicting studies on whether or not he would return for Empire Season 6, however FOX later determined to make the sixth season the present’s final.
And up to date studies have advised that he won’t be part of the last-ever episodes of the sequence.
The brand new felony prices leveled in opposition to the embattled actor are six new counts of disorderly conduct.
Dan Webb, the particular prosecutor on the case, mentioned that these prices stem from 4 separate and allegedly false police studies during which Smollett claimed to be the sufferer of a hate crime, whereas “realizing he was not the sufferer of a criminal offense,” in accordance with Webb.
Jussie’s legal professional responded to Webb’s resolution saying it “raises critical questions concerning the integrity of the investigation that led to the renewed prices.”
All through the scandal, Smollett has maintained his innocence.
For now, Smollett is about to seem in courtroom on February 24.
It is a wild growth for a scandal that dominated the headlines in the course of the first quarter of 2019. If he’s discovered responsible, there is no telling what kind of sentence he might be .
As at all times, we’ll preserve you up to the mark on all the newest developments.
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Empire (minus Jussie Smollett) returns for its ultimate batch of episodes in March.
Paul Dailly is the Affiliate Editor for TV Fanatic. Observe him on Twitter.