Jussie Smollett has maintained his absolute innocence in his allegedly faux hate crime scandal from day one, and now it seems he’s considering whether to carry that torch all the way back into the courtroom with a lawsuit against the city of Chicago.
The former-and-possibly-future Empire actor had all 16 charges filed against him dropped this week, and while he did forfeit the $10K paid on his $100K bond, he treated his escape from the justice system as total vindication.
At the courtroom after the charges were dropped, Smollett told reporters:
“I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since Day One. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I have been accused of. This has been an incredibly difficult time, honestly one of the worst of my entire life. But I am a man of faith and I am a man that has knowledge of my history, and I would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldn’t.”
While we may never know exactly what happened that fateful night, it does seem strange that Smollett is clinging to his story so tightly.
Related: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel puts Jussie Smollett on blast in epic CNN takedown
Unless, as it now appears, he’s considering taking legal action against the city. And his lawyer left the door wide open on that.
Attorney Tina Gladian gave an interview to ABC’s Good Morning America to discuss the unexpected twist in the case.
“We’re weighing our options now,” she told co-host George Stephanopoulos after he asked: “Are you going to sue?”
“For Jussie, what’s really important is he really just wants his career and his life back,” Gladian continued. “Again, he did not ask for any of this, he was a victim of a crime.”
Meanwhile, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, shared his thoughts on the dropped charges — what he calls an “abomination of justice.”
You can read more about his comments to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer here.
If Smollett does decide to sue, one thing is certain. This saga will be far from over.
Here’s Gladian on Good Morning America:
Jussie Smollett’s attorney speaks with George Stephanopoulos about whether or not the “Empire” star will sue. gma.abc/2YqLwg3
Posted by Good Morning America on Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Vince
Ah ha. Sure jussie. Please do that. We know you won’t though.
djmcgamester
I hope not. It’s crime enough that he was allowed to go free. I’m imagining how it would go down if a white guy made similar accusations against black people.
iamru2
The haters and the trolls will be out shortly to “ support” him if he does!
Jared MacBride
If he sues the city it will just about force the feds to file charges against him. Careful what you wish for.
Brian
Oh my God, I would love it if he did this. We obviously haven’t heard all of the evidence that they have against him, it would be glorious if they used it all in their defense. And to hear him try to explain all of the holes in his story on the stand, to an aggressive defense lawyer? Priceless.
I was just wondering about this yesterday and thought that surely he wouldn’t be stupid enough to sue the city, even though he’s already shown how stupid he is. I would love to be wrong about that.
I also hope the brothers sue him.
LostMyClothesAgain
Your understanding of the legal system is baseless. Perhaps Smollett should file suit against the nonsense that you have been posting. I simply hope Smollett fades away into obscurity.
LostMyClothesAgain
Again, circumstantial evidence cuts both ways. Smollett does not have a strong civil case. Evidence aside, the Chicago police are an absolutely corrupt and worthless organization.
Brian
Gee, you really think he doesn’t have a strong civil case? Congratulations, you can see something that even Stevie Wonder can see.
Also, you seem to have a very warped view of circumstantial evidence. Most renounce is technically circumstantial, that doesn’t mean it can’t all be used to tell a pretty undeniable story. You are the type of person any defense lawyer would kill to have on their jury.
LostMyClothesAgain
During voir dire Brian is exactly the type of biased and prejudiced prospective juror who much be bounced. A closed mind cannot deliver justice.
Terrycloth
Queerty is into standup ? If jussie remembers HE filed the “allegedly ” false police report prompting them to investigate the so called crime ..
bobnla
hey Jussie; go right ahead and sue the City of Chicago and your whole scheme will be exposed…then the city can then sue you in return for malicious prosecution, lying, obstruction of justice
Juanjo
I know the “Hate Smollett” crowd is all atwitter about this. Personally, I would love to see him sue because if he does then all that sealed file on the investigation becomes discoverable and part of the public record. That way we will see what exactly the government dug up concerning his actions that night. Then the “Hate Smollett” crowd will either get to do a victory dance or eat their own words. Personally, I think there is something that someone wanted to bury in all this nonsense and I do not know what it is. Smollett of course, if he actually did fake this would want to hide that so he would have a motivation to bury it as much as possible. The government has a motive to bury this if the cops did something stupid like fake evidence [which Chicago cops have an established track record of doing] but no evidence to drop all charges. The usual procedure here would be a plea to one of the minor charges with the rest dropped, in exchange for a fine and maybe probation. The government has no motivation for dropping everything if their evidence is solid on any of the charges.
And don’t trot out that BS about someone putting political pressure on the prosecutor. Who? How? Why were Rahm and the cops not in on the pressure? Rahm is a highly political animal and not one who is known for not fighting back.
iamru2
So people who want criminals convicted of their cowardly crimes are just haters? That’s pretty f Ed up dude!
Rock-N-RollHS
You’re probably one of those who still think O.J. Simpson is still innocent.
jcoberkrom
He’s not about to sue the city because all the evidence against him will come out a prove his culpability
Rock-N-RollHS
I hope the FBI goes after him. In a perfect world, he would share a cell with President Orange, although Juss would get out after a few years of good behavior.
DCguy
So he never said he was going to sue and this was an invented headline.
If he really was completely innocent he’ll sue because he lost a job over it. If he doesn’t sue….well then……
Greg
When did he lose his job?
fur_hunter
He is a total @$$ HOLE! I hope he sues, costing him a bundle and then be awarded $1 in compensation. THAT would be a real winner. His @$$ should be in prison for fraud and lying to the cops. He has totally demeaned hate crimes. He is nothing but a POS as far as I’m concerned……..Just my opinion.
Chevelter
I wish I could go back to a time I didn’t know who this guy was.
Brian
Apparently the police released their files on the case, then got a court order telling them not to release anything else, after it was already online. I’m looking forward to hearing some of the new details.
Jon in Canada
Hey Jussie, one word: DISCOVERY.
Curtispsf
IF Jussie did falsify a hate crime, he would have to be a total fool to sue the city. Unless the City of Chicago Police Department falsified evidence. One of them is lying. Now WHO has a PROVEN reputation of falsifying crimes and evidence? Answer: The Chicago Police Department. So Jussie: If you’re telling the truth, PUT UP or just SHUT UP and try to resume your career.
Blackceo
If this little boy doesn’t sit down somewhere and be grateful he’s not doing time. :roll eyes:
malerntogo
OMG! Can we as a Gay community just move on? This is quickly becoming the Gay version of the OJ case. Many of us believe he committed the crimes he was charged with. Many do not. My point is I do not want to be discussing this 20 years from now! Regardless, is there anyone out there who, if committing a crime, would not accept the deal that was made?
Jussie, if you’re guilty then STFU, if not then sue the City of Chicago for the 10k and if you win, donate it to a LGBTQ organization in Chicago.
Toofie
The reason for this debacle is Jussie wants this to go away so he can salvage his career. Suing Chicago would just refocus the story back to his preposterous story.
Dymension
Look, you got off. Let it go already. Don’t continue to do stupid things.
Heywood Jablowme
Maybe Jussie is determined to piss off so many people (including us gay liberals) that SOMEONE will finally beat the [email protected] out of him!
nitejonboy
He won’t be doing himself any favors, his career is already over, this would only make it worse.
redzebra1
No it’s not, it’s not like Empire dropped him
stanhope
I don’t know what jussie did or did not do. What I do know is that eddie steppinfetchit johnson is in a precarious time. The leading mayoral candidate has gone on record saying she will fire his fat butt. He needed a big case about now. He went on an unprecedented hour plus live news feed to lay out ‘evidence’ (some since debunked to no fanfare) which had the potential to contaminate a jury pool. Negro eddie, with his own mouth, said the nigerians sold jussie drugs yet they are not in jail. The chicago police department put the brothers up in a hotel…was that to coordinate stories? Nowhere in the job descriptions is the provision for the sitting mayor and police chief to go on all media to re-litigate a settled case. Negro eddie says he is mad…who the F cares? The chicago police department has a decades long history of mistreating Blacks, Latins and gay. Just look up the city payouts (which you just know is the tip of the iceberg) for proof. The city is dirty, rahm is swamp thing dirty and eddie has rahm butt breath no listerine will fix.
Bryguyf69
This is not just a matter of “The case is over. Let’s move on…” The thing no one is discussing is that if Smollett is correct, there are two racist homophobes running free in Chicago. So an inevitable consequence of his claims is that more money and manpower should be spent to investigate a crime that may or may not have occurred. Can his supporters live with that?
Ashke113
He trying to extend his 15mins? Please Jussie sue the city of Chicago we need the entertainment.