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Weeks following the announcement of a settlement between the city of Chicago and Jussie Smollett, which aimed to conclude their prolonged legal dispute related to the actor’s 2019 hate crime allegation, Smollett went on social media to reveal the specifics of the agreement.
On Friday, Smollett stated he would contribute $50,000 to the Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts charity as part of the arrangement to have the case dismissed. Additionally, he mentioned he would donate another $10,000 to the Chicago Torture Justice Center.
NBC News attempted to contact the mentioned organizations and the city of Chicago to verify Smollett’s donations and confirm the details of the settlement, but there was no immediate response to their request for comments.
The actor said his decision to settle the civil suit was “not the most difficult” to make and allowed him to support the communities “too often neglected by those in power.”
Smollett, who is Black and gay, first reported a hate crime committed against him in January 2019, alleging that two men confronted him with racial and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck and poured bleach on him.
However, police and city officials later said he orchestrated the hoax hate crime against himself. The city’s suit accused Smollett of submitting a false police report on Jan. 29, 2019, saying he knew his attackers and planned the attack, and it sought $130,000 in expenses spent on the police investigation.
Smollett countersued, denying that he orchestrated the attack.
Brothers Olabingo and Abimbola Osundairo, who worked on the “Empire” set, said they were paid by Smollett to stage the hate crime and testified against the actor during his trial.
Smollett was found guilty on five counts of felony disorderly conduct in December 2021, and sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months’ probation in March 2022, but the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the conviction in November 2024 over prosecutorial issues.
The state high court ruled that Smollett should have never been charged in the first place after entering a nonprosecution agreement with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Smollett has maintained his innocence over the years. He ended his post thanking his supporters.
