‘Empire’ star’s attack: Chicago police charge him with filing a ‘false police report’

UPDATE: “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report, the Chicago Tribune reported Feb. 20.

Original story appears below:

Chicago police say they are questioning two “persons of interest” who were seen on surveillance video near where “Empire” star Jussie Smollett says he was attacked in the early hours of Jan. 29 as he was leaving a Subway.

Detectives “have identified the persons of interest in the area of the alleged attack of the Empire cast member,” Anthony Guglielmi, chief communications officer for the Chicago Police Department, tweeted Thursday morning.

“These individuals are not yet suspects but were in area of concern and are being questioned. Investigation continues.”

No arrests have been made in connection with the attack, which police have called a suspected hate crime. It has also drawn much public comment about the veracity of Smollett’s account.

Smollett, who is gay and plays a gay character on the Fox drama, gave his first interview about the attack to Robin Roberts of ABC News in which he hit back at his doubters.

“I have to acknowledge the lies, and the hate. And it feels like if I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me much more. A lot more,” he told Roberts in the part of the interview that aired on “Good Morning America” Thursday.

“And that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now. It’s not necessarily that you don’t believe that this is the truth, you don’t even want to see the truth.”

Roberts said that Smollett “was very passionate in his account, detailing the racist and homophobic words he says his attackers used, words we cannot broadcast.”

He said the confrontation began as he was crossing the street from the Subway and heard someone yell “Empire!”

He said he kept walking. When he heard slurs yelled at him, he said he turned around and saw the attacker, “masked.”

“And he said ‘this is MAGA country (bleep)‘ and he punches me in the face. So I punched his ass back,” he said, telling Roberts that media stories that said his attackers wore red MAGA hats were wrong.

He said he started tussling with the attacker - “fighting, fighting, fighting” - on ground that was covered with ice and a second person started kicking him in the back.

“And then it just stopped,” he told Roberts. “It felt like minutes but was probably 30 seconds.”

He said he then noticed a rope around his neck and started screaming. He said his manager, who he was talking to on his cellphone when the attack began, was still on the line.

Chicago police said Smollett gave “limited and heavily redacted” phone records to detectives,” CBS Chicago reported.

“We are very appreciative of the victim’s cooperation. However, the records provided do not meet the burden for a criminal investigation, as they were limited and heavily redacted,” police said in a statement provided to the TV station. “Detectives may be following up with the victim to request additional data to corroborate the investigative timeline.”

Smollett told Roberts he was reluctant to hand over his phone to police.

“They wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to four hours. I’m sorry but - I’m not gonna do that,” he told Roberts. “Because I have private pictures and videos and numbers: my partner’s number, my family’s number, my castmate’s number, my friends’ numbers, my private emails, my private songs, my private voice memos.

“I don’t know what that’s gonna be, to hand over my phone for - and honestly, by then, inaccurate, false statements had already been put out there.”

He told Roberts he has seen the image from the surveillance video of the “persons of interest” police are now investigating and believes they are the attackers.

“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them,” he said.

ABC Chicago reported that Chicago police spokesman Guglielmi and police superintendent Eddie Johnson watched Smollett’s interview with Roberts when it aired.

“Guglielmi said Smollett’s comments on GMA are consistent with what he’s told Chicago police,” the station reported.

This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 1:58 PM.