Jussie Smollett settles with Chicago after hate crime hoax conviction was overturned
Smollett's hate crime hoax conviction was overturned in November 2024
By Lauryn Overhultz Fox News
Published May 2, 2025 12:31pm EDT
Jussie Smollett and the city of Chicago have reached a settlement agreement, Fox News Digital can confirm.
Smollett, 42, and the city have not finalized the paperwork, but they have come to an agreement roughly five months after the actor's hate crime hoax conviction was overturned. Details of the agreement are unknown. Fox News Digital has reached out to Smollett's representatives for comment.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, originally reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks in January 2019. He was convicted in 2021 of staging the hate crime himself, but it was later overturned.
The two parties will meet again in court on May 29, according to the court notice filed Monday and obtained by Fox News Digital.
The Illinois Supreme Court overturned
Smollett hate crime hoax conviction in November.
"Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants," the court wrote in documents obtained by Fox News Digital at the time. "Specifically, we address whether a dismissal of a case by nolle prosequi allows the State to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain."
"We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction."
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https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-settles-chicago-after-hate-crime-hoax-conviction-overturned
