Chicago sues Jussie Smollett to recoup police overtime costs

The city of Chicago has filed a lawsuit against Jussie Smollett, claiming the actor owes the city more than $130,000 to cover police overtime costs incurred while they investigated what he Smollett purported to be a hate crime.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Cook County circuit court, 16 days after prosecutors in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office dismissed all criminal charges against Smollett.

Smollett reported to police that he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack in Streeterville in January. After weeks of investigation, the CPD determined that Smollett cooked up the scheme because he was dissatisfied with his salary on "Empire."

A representative for Smollett did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. The decision to drop the charges against Smollett has led to a firestorm of criticism against State's Attorney Kim Foxx.

And though the files in Smollett's criminal case remain sealed, they could be made public as soon as next month. Those files likely will play an enormous role in the city's civil litigation.

Smollett has steadfastly maintained that he was the victim of a hate crime.

While prosecutors would have had to prove Smollett's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal court, the bar is lower is civil litigation.

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