Plenty of people are pissed about last month’s revelation that all charges would be dropped against Jussie Smollett after the actor was accused by authorities of staging a hate crime against himself earlier this year. No one, though, is angrier than the City of Chicago, who The Chicago Tribune reports has filed a lawsuit against Smollett after the actor refused to reimburse the investigative costs that went into the case.
Outgoing mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration filed the lawsuit after Smollett failed to pay the $130,106 they demanded of him in the wake of the investigation. Per the Tribune, the city claims that “more than two dozen Chicago police officers and detectives worked a combined 1,836 hours of overtime over at least two weeks while investigating Smollett’s claims.”
In a statement, the city says it’s pursuing “the full measure of damages allowed under the false statements ordinance.”
Smollett has maintained his innocence in the wake of both the initial 16-count indictment—which claimed that Smollett paid two men to stage an attack in which they attacked him, shouted homophobic slurs, and wrapped a noose around his neck—and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office decision to drop the charges.
In a letter sent last week, Smollett’s lawyer says he “will not be intimidated into paying the demanded sum.”
