Jussie Smollett is in police custody in Chicago after voluntarily surrendering early Thursday morning. Smollett is charged with a Class 4 felony for filing a false police report.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Smollett, 36, staged a hate crime to earn more money as an actor on the Fox musical Empire.
Smollett earned $1.17 million per season as the third lead star on the show.
Johnson and other officials briefed reporters during a news conference on Thursday morning. Johnson said Smollett faked a hate crime to earn a better salary as an actor on Fox TV’s Empire.
Johnson, who is Black, stopped just short of calling Smollett a narcissist and a sociopath.
“Why would anyone, especially an African American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations. How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile.”
He said Smollett’s actions were a slap in the face to everyone in a city that embraced him.
Johnson said Smollett “took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career” and he called the alleged hoax “shameful.”
On Jan. 29, Smollett told police two white men wearing red hats attacked him outside his high-rise apartment building in Chicago.
Johnson told reporters the scratches and bruises on Smollett’s face were “self-inflicted.”
Investigators were suspicious of Smollett from the beginning. According to ABC News, the Federal Bureau of Investigations are looking into reports the actor sent a threatening letter containing a powdery substance to himself a week before he was allegedly attacked.
