The City of Chicago has said it will sue embattled actor Jussie Smollett over the $130, 000 spent during police investigation on his hoax story of being victimised in a racist, homophobic attack.
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The Chicago Police Department concluded after more than two dozen cops spent weeks investigating the bogus story, logging 1,836 overtime hours in the process, a July 2019 legal filing said.
The city was faced with a $130,106.15 overtime tab and has since confirmed that it will press ahead with its lawsuit against Smollett to reclaim the cash.
Also, two Nigerian brothers, Abimbola ‘Abel’ Osundairo and Olabinjo ‘Ola’ Osundairo have promised to institute a suit against the actor, claiming he hired them to attack him, Daily Mail reports.
Smollett, in 2019, dominated headlines claiming he was victimised but has since been convicted of staging his own assault in a botched career move.
Last week, the ‘Empire’ show star was convicted on five counts of disorderly conduct.
A statement reads, ‘The City filed a civil lawsuit against Jussie Smollett to recover costs incurred by the Chicago Police Department investigating what the City believed to be Smollett’s false police reports that he was a victim of a hate crime.
‘While using a different standard of proof, the jury’s finding of guilt convicting Jussie Smollett of criminal charges stemming from the incident confirms that the City was correct in bringing its civil lawsuit.’
The Nigerian brothers admitted that Smollett paid them to stage the attack, which they claimed he orchestrated.
However, they later sued Smollett’s attorneys in April 2019, after the initial set of charges were dropped, claiming the case damaged their careers and reputations.
They claimed in the defamation lawsuit against lawyers Mark Geragos and Tina Glandian that they were maliciously portrayed as liars in the public.
Among the suggestions the lawyers made was that the brothers, who Smollett knew because he had enlisted them for personal training, might have been wearing white face when they attacked him on January 29.
The brothers’ lawsuit noted that Glandian also inferred that Abel engaged in a sexual relationship with Smollett, and noted that homosexuality is illegal in the brothers’ home country.
‘Same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Nigeria, which can result in 14 years of imprisonment,’ the lawsuit said. ‘If the accused is married, the punishment is death by stoning.
‘Ms. Glandian’s globally broadcasted statements that Bola Osundairo is homosexual endangers him and the lives of his Nigerian family.’
A federal judge has however stayed their lawsuit until the criminal proceedings are completed for Smollett, who has not yet been sentenced.
The brothers were arrested following Smollett’s purported attack but never charged.
The brothers’ legal team is expected to file an update to the court by February 2; their lawyers said in August that ‘with regard to settlement, nothing has changed in the Plaintiffs’ position.’
Smollett has been shamed for still refusing to admit that he staged a hoax race attack after being found guilty.
The actor stood rigid and showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts on five of the six counts of disorderly conduct were read out in the Chicago courtroom by Judge James Linn last Thursday.
He then scuttled out of court with his family, refusing to answer questions, and he is yet to make a public comment. His sentencing date has not yet been set but he risks a maximum of 20 years in prison.
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