Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a special prosecutor in Illinois on six counts of lying to police.
Last year, Smollett said he was the subject of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago. He claimed he was punched in the face by two masked attackers, had an “unknown chemical substance” poured on him and a rope wrapped around his neck. He also said his attackers made reference to MAGA, the Make America Great Again slogan used by Trump supporters.
However, following investigations, authorities accused him of staging the attack on himself for publicity. Police claimed Smollett paid two Black brothers to carry out the attack “to promote his career” because he was “dissatisfied with his salary”.
Smollett now faces six counts of disorderly conduct, special prosecutor Dan Webb said in a statement.
He said “The actor had now been charged with “making four separate false reports to Chicago Police Department officers related to his false claims that he was the victim of a hate crime, knowing that he was not the victim of a crime,”
He is due in court on 24 February.