A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the lawsuit against actor Jussie Smollett will not be dismissed.
The suit asks that Smollett reimburse the police department the $130,000 spent on investigating his alleged attack, which he asked to be dismissed because he couldn’t have known how much time and money was spent on the investigation.
In January, Smollett claimed that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago, but the Chicago Police Department is adamant that there is a mountain of evidence that shows Smollett staged the attack with two brothers he knew.
After nearly 1,900 hours of investigation, Smollett was charged with filing a false report. Those charges were dropped in March, despite claims from Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson that Smollett “took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”
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In August, Special Prosecutor Dan Webb was assigned to the case after the judge said it was riddled with “unprecedented irregularities.”
Smollett previously starred as Jamal Lyon in Fox’s “Empire,” but was cut out of the musical drama’s sixth season following the allegations. Series creator Lee Daniels said he was “beyond embarrassed” by the scandal.
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With the appointment of the special prosecutor, there remains the possibility that Smollett — who has maintained his innocence — could be charged again with staging the attack.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
