Empire star Jussie Smollett has been charged with with one count of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office confirmed the news on Wednesday evening US time. The actor is due in court in Chicago on Thursday.
Smollett told detectives he was set upon by two men near the entrance of Loews Hotel, where his attackers allegedly poured an abrasive chemical substance on the actor’s face and wrapped a rope round his neck whilst shouting racial and homophobic slurs.
The former child star appeared on Good Morning America for his first interview since the incident, becoming emotional and visibly distressed when recounting his ordeal.
“I want them to find the people that did it..I want them to stop being able to say ‘alleged attack’,” he told the programme of his wish to recover surveillance footage from the night in question.
“I want them to see that I fought back. And I want a little gay boy who might watch this to see that I fought back. It does not take anything away from people who are not able to do that, but I fought back. They ran off, I didn’t.”
The men – one of whom is Smollett’s former personal trainer – claim they were hired and instructed to purchase the rope that was found round the actor’s neck.
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