How is he going to like his salary now?
What does an unemployed B-list actor do?
“Do you want whip with that?”
CHICAGO – Actor Jussie Smollett faked a threatening letter and then, a week later, staged a racist, anti-gay attack in downtown Chicago because he was “dissatisfied with his salary” on the “Empire” television show, Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said Thursday morning.
Smollett paid two brothers he knew $3,500 to fake the attack in the 300 block of East North Water Street around 2 a.m. Jan. 29, Johnson said. The superintendent called the scheme “shameful” and wondered how an African-American could set up a racist attack for a “publicity stunt.”
When investigators figured out the real motive behind the attack, “quite frankly, it pissed everybody off,” Johnson said. “Empire actor Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”
Looking out at a crowded room of reporters at police headquarters, Johnson said: “I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention.”
Chicago top cop says Jussie Smollett faked attack because he was ‘dissatisfied with his salary’
Actor Jussie Smollett faked a threatening letter and then, a week later, staged a racist, anti-gay attack in downtown Chicago because he was “dissatisfied with his salary” on the “Empire” television show, Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said Thursday morning.