Jussie Smollett, Chicago reach settlement deal over 2019 hate hoax

Per NBC News, the suit was filed in April 2019, three months after Smollett claimed that he had been the victim of a homophobic and racist attack in a Chicago neighborhood. The city accused him of filing a false police report, saying that Smollett knew his attackers. The suit sought $130,000 in expenses that had been spent on the police investigation into the case. Smollett had filed a countersuit claiming he had not orchestrated the attack and denying that he had filed a false police report.

The two parties said on Monday that they had reached a settlement, but "need more time to finalize documentation." A status hearing has been rescheduled for May 29.

In January 2019, Smollett claimed that he had been attacked in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood for being black and gay. Brothers Ola and Abimbola Osundairo were arrested, and police later said that they had been recruited by Smollett to stage the attack. The following month, Smollett was arrested, and in March of 2019, a grand jury indicted him on suspicion of filing a false police report. Then-Cook County State Attorney Kimberly Foxx dropped the charges.

The case was later revived, and Smollett was charged with six counts of disorderly conduct in February of 2020. His case went to trial, were in December of 2021 he was found guilty on five of the six counts and sentenced in 2022 to 150 days in jail and 30 months of probation.

The Osundairo brothers said during the trial that they were paid $3,500 by Smollett to stage the attack as a ploy for public attention. Smollett claimed that the check had been written for personal training services and denied staging the attack.

In November, Smollett’s conviction was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court. The court wrote at the time, “Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants. Specifically, we address whether a dismissal of a case by nolle prosequi allows the State to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain. We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction."