Actor Jussie Smollett’s Chicago trial on charges that he faked a hate crime attack on himself has begun. 39-year-old Smollett was starring in the television show “Empire” when he claimed he was attacked by two men who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. They also left a noose around his neck.

Two brothers who worked as extras on “Empire” later came forward and said Smollett had paid them to “attack” him. Prosecutors charged the actor but Cook County Prosecutor Kim Foxx dropped all the charges in return for community service and forfeiture of his bond. The outrage prompted the appointment of a special prosecutor, who indicted Smollett on six disorderly conduct charges.

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[Feature Photo: Actor Jussie Smollett asks photographers to move back as he arrives with his mother Janet, right, at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for day three of his trial in Chicago on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. Smollett is accused of lying to police when he reported he was the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack in downtown Chicago nearly three years ago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)]