Jussie Smollett donates $50,000 to charity in Chicago settlement, maintains his innocence

After reaching a settlement with the City of Chicago earlier this month Jussie Smollett agreed to make a charitable donation to have a lawsuit against him dismissed In a lengthy announcement to Fox News Digital Smollett reported Over six years ago after it was disclosed I had been jumped city executives in Chicago set out to convince the populace that I willfully set an assault against myself This false narrative has left a stain on my character that will not soon disappear These representatives longed my money and wished my confession for something I did not do This day it should be clear They have received neither The decision to settle the civil lawsuit was not the the majority tough one to make After repeatedly refusing to pay the city I was presented with an opportunity to make a charitable donation in exchange for the incident being dismissed JUSSIE SMOLLETT SETTLES WITH CHICAGO AFTER HATE CRIME HOAX CONVICTION WAS OVERTURNEDSmollett who is Black and gay originally revealed to Chicago Police he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks in January He was convicted in of staging the hate crime but his conviction was overturned in November In April the City of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Smollett in an attempt to recoup the costs of police exploring the alleged attack The actor reported Fox News Digital despite what happened there politically he still has a place in his heart for the city Therefore making a donation to benefit Chicago communities that are too often neglected by those in power will perpetually be something I endorsement he stated I've made a donation to Building Brighter Futures BBF Center for the Arts a local nonprofit doing incredible work nurturing self-expression creativity and exploration of the arts for Chicago youth This organization was of my choosing and I'm comforted that there will be at least one winner from this experience Smollett declared that even though the criminal charges were overturned and the civil situation has been dismissed I'm aware that it will not change everyone's mind about me or the attack I experienced However despite arduous and expensive attempts to punish me I am innocent both in the eyes of God and of our criminal justice system Now he declared he'll focus on moving forward I will continue creating my art fighting passionately for causes I hold dear and defending my integrity and family name with the truth the former Empire star explained LIKE WHAT YOU RE READING CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSIn addition to the he donated as part of his settlement Smollett stated he's also donating to the Chicago Torture Justice Center which provides information to communities healing from the violence of the Chicago Police Department To anyone who has had to prove they have in fact been violated you know how demanding this can be to deal with I stand with and for you Smollett revealed of the donation In a announcement to the Chicago Sun-Times city lawyers announced The city believes this settlement provides a fair constructive and conclusive resolution allowing all the parties to close this six-year-old chapter and move forward CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERCriminal charges against Smollett were originally dropped in March a month after his arrest After special prosecutor Kim Foxx requested a new inquiry the Empire star was convicted in December on five felony counts and later sentenced to days in county jail The Illinois Supreme Court decided in November that the special prosecutor's decision to retry Smollett on charges violated his rights Currently we resolve a question about the state's responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants Mark Geragos Smollett's lawyer explained Fox News Digital at the time We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation and we therefore reverse defendant's conviction This was not a prosecution based on facts rather it was a vindictive persecution and such a proceeding has no place in our criminal justice system another of Smollett s attorneys Nenye Uche notified Fox in a declaration Ultimately we are pleased that the rule of law was the big winner this day We are thankful to the Illinois Supreme Court for restoring order to Illinois criminal law jurisprudence Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this analysis