Newly released police video footage shows Empire star Jussie Smollet wearing a noose around his neck as cops arrived to investigate an alleged hate crime against him.
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Police body-cam footage shows authorities entering Smollett's Chicago apartment, led by his manager, Frank Gatson.
Smollett is found by the officers with ropes strung around his neck, which he says were put on by the attackers.
When officers ask him if he wants to take the rope off his neck, he does, but says he "just wanted y'all to see it".
"There's bleach on me, they poured bleach on me," Smollett adds.
The police inform him they're recording, to which Smollett responds, "I don't want to be filmed," and the officers agree to turn off the cameras.
Smollett claimed to have been assaulted by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him on January 29.
The police later concluded he had hired two men, Abel and Ola Osundairo, to carry out a staged attack, an accusation Smollet continues to deny.
He was indicted on 16 counts of filing a false police report, but the charges were later dropped in exchange for a $US10,000 bond.
That decision met with immediate backlash, as State's Attorney Kim Foxx was accused of cutting a sweetheart deal for the actor.
Last week, a judge ordered the appointment of a special counsel to re-examine the case.
The city of Chicago is also pursuing Smollett in civil court to recoup the $US130,000 overtime cost stemming from the investigation.
According to CBS, the actor Googled himself more than 50 times in the days following the alleged attack, as evidenced by internet searches released by Chicago Police.
Reuters/Newshub.
