Jussie Smollett staged attack to ‘promote his career’, police claims

Empire actor Jussie Smollett staged a racist and homophobic attack because he was unhappy about his salary and wanted to promote his career, Chicago's police superintendent has said.

Jussie Smollett also sent a ‘racist and homophobic’ threatening letter to the Fox studio lot where he works in Chicago before the attack, Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.

The actor turned himself in and was arrested early on Thursday to face accusations that he filed a false police report when he told authorities he was attacked in Chicago by two men who hurled racist and anti-gay slurs and looped a rope around his neck, talkradio.co.uk reports.