Photo Credit: Jussie Smollett/Instagram
Jussie Smollett might be trying to move on with his life putting his Studio City, CA home up for sale, probably a good idea since Empire has moved on from him choosing to phase out his character and not have him on this season, his legal problems won’t be as easy to move on from. Chicago Judge Toomin today chose a special prosecutor to investigate the 16 dropped charges he was facing earlier this year. The US attorney Dan Webb. The 73 year old attorney is co-chairman of one of Chicago’s largest law firms Winston & Strawn law firm, who’s had such high profile clients such as Microsoft, the New York Stock Exchange, General Electric, etc. This is his 5th time being a special prosecutor in his 5 decade long career.
Webb was chosen after 30 other Illinois prosecutors turned down the case. “I might say that the responses were less than enthusiastic, as you might expect,” Toomlin stated to the courtroom. “I understand this case is important. Judge Toomin has made that clear to me,” Webb said Friday. “I intend to expedite everything, but the facts will take me where they take me.” Webb will be reviewing actions taken by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx who said “While the court previously concluded that our office had no conflict of interest in this case, public trust is paramount to our work. We pledge our full cooperation to the special prosecutor appointed today to review this matter.”
Smollett’s brother Jojo penned an op-ed back in April asking “What if Jussie is telling the truth?” stating that he was being unjustly accused in the court of public opinion. He stated “My brother was developing two films with one of the biggest producers in Hollywood, had the lead to a Broadway show on the table and owns the option rights to the authorized autobiography of his idol, Alvin Ailey. All pointing to not only an advancing career but a business savvy mind. To suggest that he staged his own attack to boost a sagging career is ludicrous.” While an interesting take, we shall see where the facts lead us and if in fact he and his brother were telling the truth. It’s also worth noting that at no point did the media ever mention what projects Smollett was working on but instead painted him as a desperate actor with a shaky future ahead of him so we shall see what happens.
