A new court ruling on behalf of Jussie Smollett didn’t turn out in his favor.
On Wednesday, April 22, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall threw out the malicious prosecution suit that Smollett filed against the city of Chicago and a group of police officers last year.
The judge said that Smollett wouldn’t be able to sue for malicious prosecution until all of the proceedings against him have been completed.
According to the judge, Chicago police “had probable cause to think he committed” a crime, which also led to her decision to drop the suit.
Smollett said he was beaten by two men in January 2019 while he was walking in Chicago late at night. The actor, who’s Black and identifies as gay, claimed the men also yelled racial epithets at him and put a noose around his neck.
Later, however, police accused the “Empire” actor of staging the attack and hiring brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo to help him.
In March 2019, Smollett was indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct. The charges were dropped by prosecutors that same month, which caused outrage among many. Shortly after, the city of Chicago sued Smollett for $130,000, which they said was the amount spent investigating his claims.
It was revealed in August of that same year that a special prosecutor would look back into the charges police filed against Smollett. Then in February 2020, Smollett was indicted on six felony counts of disorderly conduct, to which he pleaded not guilty.
As of late, Smollett has been sending positive messages to people on Instagram during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Easter, he posted a video that shows him performing.
On top of that, Smollett reportedly said he’d donate $5,000 to purchase 3,000 face masks for the Cook County Health Foundation in Illinois to help with virus protection.
“I lived in Chicago for five years and know many essential workers driving buses, working in child care or working in grocery stores are Black,” Smollett told the Chicago Sun-Times.
In addition, Smollet plans to send 1,000 face masks to New York’s Harlem Hospital.
