Jussie Smollett Suffers Major Legal Setback

Jussie Smollett’s attorneys are not allowed to call Kim Foxx, the Chicago prosecutor whose office dropped the initial charges against the actor accused of staging a racist and homophobic attack against him in 2019, as a witness in his upcoming trial. Smollett is facing a six-count indictment accusing him of lying to Chicago Police.

USA Today reports that Cook County Judge James Linn made the ruling on Thursday (August 26), which also included the stipulation that Smollett’s attorneys also cannot mention various lawsuits linked to the case.

In March of 2019, Foxx’s office dropped 16 felony charges against Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a hate crime against himself in Chicago on January 29, 2019.

Foxx received tons of backlash for the decision.

RELATED: Jussie Smollett Pleads Not Guilty To New Charges In Hate Crime Hoax Case

Jussie Smollett was hospitalized briefly after an alleged racist and homophobic attack on January 29, 2019 near his Streeterville apartment in Chicago. Initially, authorities investigated the matter as a hate crime, but eventually their suspicions turned to Smollett, believing he staged the incident.

The former Empire star was charged with 16 felony counts, but eventually all charges were dropped by Foxx’s office.

However, in February 2020, special prosecutor Dan Webb said in a statement that Smollett was charged with “making four separate false reports to Chicago Police Department officers related to his false claims that he was the victim of a hate crime, knowing that he was not the victim of a crime.” As a result, the 38-year-old will face six counts of disorderly conduct.

Jussie Smollett continues to maintain his innocence.