“Empire” star Jussie Smollett just can’t stay out of the headlines. New reports claim the actor has received been indicted on nearly 20 felony counts connected to his recent Chicago hate crime attack.
According to reports, Jussie is getting hit with the criminal charges for allegedly filing false reports of a crime.
The indictment charges Smollett with 16 counts of disorderly conduct. Smollett’s attorneys said they have no statement at this time. He remains out on bail pending an arraignment Thursday. The counts in the indictment obtained by CNN say Smollett gave statements to a Chicago police officer after the incident and to a detective. Details in some of those statements were different, the indictment says. (CNN)
Recently, rap star Drake‘s dad Dennis Graham spoke up for Smollett amid his publicized attack and rumors suggesting he might have staged it.
“Jussie has been misunderstood. As a matter of fact, they know that. That story that came out about Jussie in Chicago is not true about Jussie. Jussie is a friend of mine, also. They have totally reconstructed his story.” (Variety)
According to reports, Jussie’s Jamal Lyon character will noticeably disappear from the upcoming season’s final episodes.
“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us,” said EPs Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer in a statement this morning in reference to the supposed assault of January 29 and the subsequent legal fallout. “Jussie has been an important member of our Empire family for the past five years and we care about him deeply,” the producers added. “While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out. We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of ‘Jamal’ from the final two episodes of the season.” (Deadline)
After turning himself in last month, Smollett posted bond and will return to court next week.
“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett appeared in court Thursday after surrendering to authorities in the early morning on one felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. The judge set Smollett’s bond at $100,000. He posted bond and was released from custody shortly before 4 p.m. Smollett did not speak as he left the Cook County Jail, and was blocked from the crush of media and cameras by a large bodyguard, whose shoulders he held onto. (ABC 7 Chicago)
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