Jussie Smollett Pleads Not Guilty To Charges He Faked Attack Against Himself
Jussie Smollett has pleaded not guilty to 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct, maintaining his innocence amid allegations that he faked a possible hate crime against himself earlier this year. Smollett's legal team entered the plea Thursday at a courthouse in Chicago, while the Empire actor and singer looked on silently.
The actor's plea comes. In the report filed in late January, Smollett told authorities that he had been jumped while walking through downtown Chicago just past midnight. According to the star, who is black and openly gay and who plays a gay character on the television show, his two assailants verbally showered him with racial and anti-gay slurs — before physically assaulting him, pouring a chemical on him and leaving him with a rope wrapped around his neck.
