Jussie Smollett Won’t Be ‘Intimidated’ Into Paying City of Chicago
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – DECEMBER 02: Jussie Smollett attends the Trevor Project’s TrevorLIVE LA 2018 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on December 3, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for The Trevor Project)
Jussie Smollett has no intention of reimbursing the city of Chicago for its investigation hours of his alleged assault.
According to The Chicago Tribune, the city of Chicago has demanded that Smollett pay $130,106, the amount of police overtime hours spent during the investigation, which began in January. The Empire actor was given until Thursday, April 4 to make the payment.
Instead, his lawyer Mark Geragos sent a letter to attorney’s for the city, noting that his client, “will not be intimidated into paying the demanded sum.”
“Mr. Smollett vehemently denies making any false statements,” Geragos said in the letter. “Your claim that Smollett filed a false police report and orchestrated his own attack is false and defamatory.”
Last week, the prosecution dropped all charges against Smollett, who was facing 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct. The actor, who is black and openly gay, claimed that he was assaulted back in January by two masked men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him, as well as tying a noose around his neck and pouring bleach on him.
In a statement Thursday, the city of Chicago said they would be pursuing full legal action against Smollett.
“Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019. The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook Country,” a statement from Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey read.
While the $130K is the fee the city is requesting, according to The Root, the city’s bylaws mean they can demand close to $400K from the actor.
