All sixteen felony counts against Jussie Smollett have been dropped. CNN:
All charges against actor Jussie Smollett -- who had been accused of staging a hate crime against himself in Chicago and filing a false police report about it -- have been dropped, prosecutors and his attorneys said Tuesday.
The move is a dramatic reversal in a case in which police alleged just last month that the 36-year-old "Empire" actor hired two acquaintances to attack him along a Chicago street in late January to promote his career.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office didn't immediately explain why the 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct were dropped, except to say it came after reviewing the case's facts, and in view of Smollett's agreement to forfeit his $10,000 bond. Parts of the case will be sealed, one of Smollett's attorneys said.
"After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett's volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case," the state's attorney's office said in a statement.
Smollett's statement:
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and representatives of the Chicago Police are calling this a whitewash.
