Chicago city to sue US actor Jussie Smollett

The City of Chicago says Jussie Smollett has refused to pay more than $130,000 to reimburse costs of investigating what authorities say was a staged racist, anti-gay attack.

The city’s law department also says in a statement Thursday that it would be drafting a lawsuit in response and would sue the “Empire” actor in Cook County Civil Court. The city “will file the suit in the near future.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s law chief sent Smollett a March 28 letter demanding the “Empire” actor pay $130,106 —plus 15 cents— within seven days.

A suit could lead to a drawn out battle in civil court that could end in a trial focused on the question of whether Smollett did or didn’t orchestrate the January 29 attack.

Smollett, who is black and gay, said two men attacked him on the street at night in January, making homophobic and racist remarks, pouring a chemical on him and putting a noose around his neck while shouting support for Trump.

Investigators later charged Smollett with paying $3,500 to the two men to pretend to attack him in order to garner public sympathy for himself. Prosecutors dropped the charges, saying they stood by the accusation but that an agreement by Smollett to forfeit his $10,000 bond was a just outcome. 

Smollett, 36, says he is innocent and did not stage the attack.

The county prosecutors' decision prompted the police union to demand a federal investigation, and enraged Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who said it was a "whitewash" that made a fool of the city.