Jussie Smollett, former actor on the show “Empire”, is once again facing charges in Chicago, in which he claimed to be a victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime. 

Smollett was charged by a grand jury on six disorderly conduct charges on Tuesday February 11, 2020. He is currently 37 years of age facing a $130,000 lawsuit with the city of Chicago. This is how much it cost police and prosecutors to investigate Smollett’s false charge.

The former “Empire” star informed poilce in January 2019 that he was attacked by two men, hurling racial and homophobic slurs at him. He also said the two men wrapped a rope around his neck at about 2 a.m. 

At first Chicago police said they were looking into the attack as a hate crime but were unable to find any video evidence of the incident. After police interviewed Ola and Abel Osundairo, two people of interest, authorities shifted the investigation into whether or not the actor paid the brothers to stage the assault. 

In February of last year, Smollett was charged with felony disorderly conduct for the allegedly false report he made with Chicago police. Police say Smollett paid the Osundairo brothers $3.5k to arrange the attack. 

In March, a grand jury indicted him on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct, but all charges were unexpectedly dropped weeks later. Jussie Smollett has denied making up the attack and is now counter-suing the city of Chicago.