Jussie Smollett Donates $50,000 to Arts Center to Settle Chicago's Lawsuit

New York Times

27-05-2025

Jussie Smollett, the former 'Empire' star, announced that he had donated $50,000 to a Chicago charity to settle a lawsuit by the city about his claim that he had been the victim of a hate crime.
In 2022, a jury convicted Mr. Smollett of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report after he said he had been attacked in downtown Chicago by two men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him. His conviction was overturned last year by the Illinois Supreme Court, which said the special prosecutor's case violated a previous agreement with Mr. Smollett.
Mr. Smollett shared details of his settlement with the city in a statement posted to Instagram on Friday, saying that he had made a $50,000 donation to the Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts. According to its website, the organization's mission is to 'improve the quality of life for underprivileged youth and their families by providing safe, stable and nurturing experiences.'
The City of Chicago had sued Mr. Smollett six years ago, seeking more than $130,000 to cover the costs of its police investigation. It said the settlement with Mr. Smollett required the charitable contribution.
'The city believes this settlement provides a fair, constructive and conclusive resolution, allowing all the parties to close this six-year-old chapter and move forward,' a city spokeswoman, Kristen Cabanban, said in a statement. She said that Mr. Smollett also made a $10,000 payment to the city in 2019, and that he had faced additional accountability through his criminal trial.
Mr. Smollett posted on Friday that, in addition to the settlement, he had also donated $10,000 to the Chicago Torture Justice Center, an organization that 'seeks to address the traumas of police violence and institutionalized racism,' according to its website.
A representative of the Building Brighter Futures Center confirmed in an email that it had received the donation. The Chicago Torture Justice Center confirmed Mr. Smollett's donation in an Instagram post last week.
Mr. Smollett originally said that the men who hurled slurs at him also tied a rope around his neck and doused him with a chemical substance. The story initially inspired outrage and sympathy for the actor, but prosecutors became suspicious of his account and charged him with felony disorderly conduct.
Those initial charges were dropped in 2019 after Mr. Smollett agreed to perform community service and forfeit a $10,000 bond payment. But after an outcry from the mayor and the police, a special prosecutor revived the case.
Chicago's lawsuit had been on pause while the criminal charges worked their way through the courts. Mr. Smollett, who has maintained his innocence and countersued city officials, said in his Instagram post that he was aware the settlement 'will not change everyone's mind about me.'
'What I have to do now is move forward,' he wrote.