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‘Empire’ Actor Hands Over Phone Records After Neighbors Question His Story About Attack

Feb 11, 2019  •  Post A Comment

“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who said he was the victim of a racial and homophobic attack Jan. 29 in Chicago, provided his phone records to the Chicago Police Department Monday morning, The New York Post reports.

The move came after The Post reported separately that some of Smollett’s neighbors were expressing doubt about the accuracy of Smollett’s account of the alleged attack. During the investigation, authorities have brought up Smollett’s failure to turn over data from his cellphone that might verify that he was on the phone with his music manager Brandon Moore at the time of the attack.

The Post reports that a spokesperson for Smollett said in an email today: “Phone records from Jussie’s manager were sent to police on Feb. 5 and Jussie’s records were sent over this morning. Both were sent to Chief of Staff to the Superintendent of Police Robert Boik, who confirmed receipt.”

The report notes that authorities requested the phone records to corroborate a claim by Smollett that he was on the phone with Moore during the attack.

“Both men allege Smollett was called a ‘f—-t’ and a ‘n—-r’ during the attack and both said they heard the words ‘MAGA country,’ an apparent reference to President Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan,” The Post reports. “The police said they wanted the records so they could independently verify the two men’s accounts, which is needed for a criminal investigation, but Smollett told police he couldn’t be without his phone for several hours.”

The report quotes Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi saying Sunday afternoon: “We have no reason to doubt the statements, but for a criminal investigation, we need to independently confirm the phone records.”

The statement from Smollett’s spokesperson adds: “Chicago PD has repeatedly informed us that they find Jussie’s account of what happened that night consistent and credible.”

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