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Empire Actor Jussie Smollett missed a deadline to repay $ 130,000 (NZ $ 192,500) in Chicago for an alleged hate crime hoax. The administration of outgoing mayor Rahm Emanuel has therefore the intention to sue him.
Last week, the city informed Smollett's lawyers by mail of his request to pay 130,106 US dollars – the cost of overtime spent by the police in investigating his allegations. The letter warned that if Smollett did not pay on April 4, the city "could sue you for making a false declaration to the city".
The city's lawyers are currently preparing a lawsuit and plan to pursue "the full extent of damages" permitted by city law, according to a statement.
Nuccio DiNuzzo / GETTY
Actors Jussie Smollett's lawyers said the city officials were the ones who had to apologize.
"Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for overtime costs incurred by the police to investigate his false police report on January 29, 2019. The Legal Department is currently preparing a civil complaint to be filed in the Circuit. Court of Cook County. "Legal Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey said in a statement. "Once the complaint is filed, the legal department will send a courtesy copy of the complaint to the Los Angeles-based Mr. Smollett's legal team."
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Anne Kavanagh, spokesperson for Smollett, did not comment.
Last week, after Emanuel announced his intention to try to force Smollett to pay the police investigation fees, Smollett's lawyers said the city officials were the ones who had to apologize. "It's the mayor and the chief of police who owe Jussie … an apology – for betraying the character of an innocent man in the mud," the statement said. "Jussie paid enough."
The Cook County prosecutor's office Kim Foxx sparked fierce controversy last week when prosecutors abruptly dropped a charge of 16 counts accusing Smollett of orchestrating a racist and homophobic attack against him. – even to advance his career. In dismissing the case, prosecutors said they had reached an agreement with the actor to perform two days of community service and waive his $ 10,000 bond paid to the city of Chicago.
This unusual gesture surprised police officials in Chicago and quickly sentenced Emanuel, who called the move "money laundering".
Smollett, who is African-American and openly gay, said that he was heading to a Sandwiches Subway apartment around 2 am when two men approached, shouted racial and homophobic slurs, letting him out. hit him and put his head around his neck. Smollett added that they had also poured a whitening substance on him and that they had shouted: "This is the country of MAGA!" in reference to President Donald Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again".
Trump tweeted last week that he would ask the FBI to investigate how the Smollett charges were removed.
– Chicago Tribune
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