Chicago prosecutor called ‘Empire’ actor a ‘washed up celeb’
CHICAGO — Just after news broke that “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett had been indicted on 16 felony counts, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx told her top deputy that Smollett was a “washed up celeb who lied to cops” and the number of felony counts he faced was excessive, communications obtained by the Chicago Tribune show.
“Sooo … I’m recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging cases … 16 counts on a class 4 (felony) becomes exhibit A,” Foxx said in a text message to Joseph Magats, her top assistant. Foxx said she recused herself because of her “familiarity with potential witnesses.”
Foxx went on in those texts to Magats to compare Smollett’s case to the office’s pending indictment of R&B singer R. Kelly on 10 charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
“Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16 (counts),” she wrote. “ Just because we can charge something doesn’t mean we should.”
Smollett, who is African American and openly gay, had been indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct on charges he staged a hate crime attack on himself. Foxx’s office created a firestorm of protest after abruptly dropping all the charges less than three weeks later.
Late Tuesday, Foxx’s office made public thousands of internal texts and emails on the Smollett case in response to public-records requests by the Tribune.
The majority of documents released Tuesday do not deal with the substance of the case and do little to illuminate why prosecutors decided to dismiss the charges so soon after bringing them.
But they show that the office was largely caught flat-footed by the massive response from the news media to its own stunning reversal.
Megan Crepeau is a Chicago Tribune writer.