Things aren’t looking bright for ex-Empire star Jussie Smollett as he was recently indicted for allegedly staging a brutal attack early 2019 and lying about it.
Now, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot is speaking out on the situation, insisting that the actor & musician must pay for his actions.
“He needs to face the charges,” Lightfoot told CBS 2 Chicago. “He committed a crime, and he needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and we are going to continue to aggressively make him accountable for the wasted police resources that went into investigating what turned out to be a total hoax.”
Earlier this week, Smollett pleaded not guilty in Cook County court to six charges stemming from the alleged attack, according to Fox News. His lawyer also requested the Illinois Supreme Court put an end to the case.
The same courthouse also charged Smollett with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct due to filing a false police report, however, all those charges were dropped.
But, Smollett, from the beginning, has insisted he’s telling the truth.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Smollett told reporters earlier this week. “It’s fight or die at this point.”
“I don’t claim to be innocent, I am innocent,” he continued.
