Actor Jussie Smollett has accused the
city of Chicago and multiple police officers of malicious
prosecution.
In a lawsuit filed by Chicago, the city
seeks to recover $130,106 for an investigation it conducted into
allegedly false claims Smollett made in January.
Smollett, who is black and came out gay
in 2015, claimed that he was attacked by two men wearing masks as he
walked in downtown Chicago. The men, he said, shouted racial and
homophobic slurs as they struck him in the face.
A grand jury indicted Smollett on 16
counts of disorderly conduct for reporting a hate crime that police
claim was staged by the actor because he was “dissatisfied with his
salary” on the Fox drama Empire. The charges were suddenly
dropped in March.
According to the
Chicago
Sun-Times, Smollett's lawyers made their counterclaims in
responding to the city's lawsuit.
Smollett claims that the city's
investigation caused him economic harm, “humiliation, mental
anguish and extreme emotional distress.”
Smollett has consistently maintained
his innocence.