"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a grand jury in Chicago on 16 felony counts after allegedly lying to police about being the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime, NBC News confirmed Friday.
Smollett was charged last month with felony disorderly conduct for the alleged false report he made with Chicago police on Jan. 29, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. In it he claimed he was assaulted by two masked men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs.
Smollett was charged by a grand jury of 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for making a false report, according to a criminal complaint.
Smollett and his attorneys have denied the allegations against him. Mark Geragos, who represents Smollett, said in a statement to NBC News on Friday that the indictment was "the prosecutorial overkill."
"This redundant and vindictive indictment is nothing more than a desperate attempt to make headlines in order to distract from the internal investigation launched to investigate the outrageous leaking of false information by the Chicago Police Department and the shameless and illegal invasion of Jussie's privacy in tampering with his medical records," Geragos said.
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05.06.2025