Actor Jussie Smollett has agreed to pay $50,000 (£37,000) to a charity in Chicago, settling a lawsuit the city had filed against him over accusations of lying about a hate crime.
Chicago police had wanted Smollett to pay $130,000 to cover the investigation costs, but on Thursday, Chicago’s law department confirmed that the donation will be made instead.
The money will go to Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts, an organisation that supports Chicago’s underprivileged youth.
In 2019, Smollett said he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. But in a case that has seen many twists and turns, he was charged with lying to police. The charges were later dropped, and Smollett has always maintained it was not a hoax.
A spokesperson for the law department said: “The City believes this settlement provides a fair, constructive, and conclusive resolution, allowing all the parties to close this six-year-old chapter and move forward”.
Smollett, who is black and gay, had claimed two men punched him, yelled racial slurs, dumped a “chemical substance” on him and and put a noose around his neck while he was walking down the street near his apartment in Chicago.
At the time, there was an outpouring of support for the actor, with many celebrities making public statements condemning the violence and supporting Smollett.
But a few weeks later, he was accused of making the whole thing up, and charged with lying to police.
He was accused of sending a racist letter to himself, and paying two brothers $3,500 to stage the attack.
Smollett was found guilty in 2021, but the conviction was overturned last year.
