Category Archives: Empire

Jussie Smollett will be released from jail pending the appeal of his conviction

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The former Empire actor will be freed after posting a personal recognizance bond of $150,000, meaning he agrees to come to court as required

Jussie Smollett was ordered released from jail Wednesday by an appeals court that agreed with his lawyers that he should be released pending the appeal of his conviction for lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack.

The ruling came after a Cook county judge sentenced Smollett last week to immediately begin serving 150 days in jail for his conviction on five felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police. In an outburst immediately after the sentence was handed down, the former star of the TV show Empire proclaimed his innocence and said, “I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that.”

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Jussie Smollett to return to witness stand after calling claim he staged attack ‘100% false’

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Empire actor faces charges he lied to Chicago police about an alleged anti-gay, racist attack in January 2019

Jussie Smollett will return to the witness stand on Tuesday at his trial in Chicago, where the former Empire actor said that claims he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself were “100% false”.

Prosecutors will continue cross-examining the 39-year-old, who appeared calm through several hours of testimony Monday. He told jurors “there was no hoax” and that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood.

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Jussie Smollett was ‘real victim’ of racist attack, lawyer says as trial begins

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Ex-Empire actor is accused of hiring two men to fake an attack in Chicago but new evidence could support Smollett’s defense

Jussie Smollett “is a real victim” of a “real crime,” his attorney said in opening statements at the ex-Empire actor’s trial Monday, rejecting prosecutors’ allegation that he staged a homophobic and racist attack in Chicago.

Defense attorney Nenye Uche said two brothers attacked Smollett in January 2019 because they didn’t like him, and that a $3,500 check the actor paid the men was for training so he could prepare for an upcoming music video, not as payment for staging a hate crime, as prosecutors allege. Uche also suggested a third attacker was involved and told jurors there is not a “shred” of physical and forensic evidence linking Smollett to the crime prosecutors allege.

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Jussie Smollett case: brothers who helped stage attack sue actor’s attorney

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Defamation lawsuit alleges that Smollett’s lawyer and firm repeatedly assert that the brothers carried out a real, bigoted attack on actor

Two brothers who say they helped Jussie Smollett stage a racist and homophobic attack against himself filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Empire actor’s attorneys, alleging that they repeatedly asserted publicly that the brothers carried out a real, bigoted attack on Smollett despite knowing that was not true.

A lawyer for Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of the brothers. It names the well-known defense attorney Mark Geragos and his law firm as defendants.

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Jussie Smollett: prosecutors drop charges against actor accused of fabricating attack

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State’s attorney’s office says 16 counts against Empire actor dropped ‘after reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case’

Prosecutors agreed on Tuesday to drop criminal charges against the Empire actor Jussie Smollett for faking a hate crime attack in Chicago.

Smollett was charged with 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly hiring two men to stage a racist, homophobic attack against him in downtown Chicago earlier this year.

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Jussie Smollett: Chicago mayor attacks ‘whitewash of justice’ as charges dropped

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  • Decision to suddenly drop 16 charges questioned
  • Smollett: ‘I have been truthful and consistent on every level’

Prosecutors have agreed to drop criminal charges against the Empire actor Jussie Smollett for apparently faking a hate crime attack in Chicago, drawing claims from mayor Rahm Emanuel of a “whitewash of justice”.

Smollett was earlier this year charged with 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly hiring two men to stage a racist, homophobic attack against him in downtown Chicago.

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Jussie Smollett staged attack because he was unhappy with salary, police say

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  • Empire actor appeared in court where bail was set to $100,000
  • Police say scratches and bruises ‘most likely self-inflicted’

The actor Jussie Smollett claimed he was attacked and beaten by two masked men shouting racist and homophobic slurs because he was “dissatisfied with his salary” on the TV show Empire, Chicago police have said.

Related: Trump targets Jussie Smollett over what police say was fake attack – live updates

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Jussie Smollett charged: actor accused of filing false report in alleged attack

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Smollett has said two masked men abused him with racist and homophobic slurs before beating him up

The Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report when he said he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack in downtown Chicago late last month, Chicago police said on Wednesday.

The police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said prosecutors charged Smollett with felony disorderly conduct, an offense that could carry one to three years in prison and force the actor to pay for the cost of the investigation into his report of the beating. Authorities were trying to get in touch with Smollett’s attorneys to “negotiate a reasonable surrender”, Guglielmi said.

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Jussie Smollett: Chicago police still seeking follow-up interview

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  • Actor’s lawyers angrily reject reports he may have staged attack
  • Police spokesman says trajectory of investigation ‘shifted’

Chicago police are still seeking a follow-up interview with Jussie Smollett after receiving new information that “shifted” their investigation of a reported attack on the Empire actor.

Related: Jussie Smollett attorneys dismiss reports of involvement in own 'attack'

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The Last Jedi’ is a hit, but how much did audiences like it?

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This image released by Lucasfilm shows Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." With glowing reviews from critics and $450.8 million of worldwide box office in the first three days of release of "The Last Jedi," all would seem to be right in the "Star Wars" universe.