Jussie Smollett is now one of the most despised men in Chicago. The citizens of the Windy City don't appreciate the "Empire" actor's callous decision to orchestrate a fake hate crime that brought them unfortunate media coverage and cost them precious resources. Last month, Smollett claimed he had been attacked by two MAGA-hat wearing Trump supporters because he is a black, gay man. He said they screamed slurs at him and tied a noose around his neck. None of it was true.
Chicago PD confirmed Thursday that Smollett staged the whole thing. He paid a pair of Nigerian brothers, whom he knew, $3,500 to pretend to ambush him, after which he'd blame it on two imaginary conservatives. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says the department gave Smollett "the benefit of the doubt" when the "crime" was first reported, until the brothers finally confessed to their role in the stunt.
"It pissed everybody off," Johnson said.
That includes even liberal Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“All across Chicago, in every neighborhood, there are signs in front yards and windows that read, ‘Hate Has No Home Here,’" Emanuel said Thursday. "It is a sign that expresses our shared values and defines our great city,” Emanuel said in a statement. “Our laws exist to reflect and defend those values, and hate crimes will never be tolerated.”
“A single individual who put their perceived self-interest ahead of these shared principles will never trump Chicago’s collective spirit,” he added.
Smollett was released on $100,000 bail on Thursday. He was also ordered to surrender his passport.
Chicago demands more justice, however. That won't come until Smollett pays back the resources he cost the city and offers a sincere "apology to the city that he smeared," Johnson said.