Jussie Smollett, the “Empire” actor charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly staging his own reported attack last month, will be allowed to travel to New York and California to meet with his attorneys as his criminal case progresses, according to court records and a spokeswoman for his legal team.
Among Smollett’s attorneys is Mark Geragos, a Los Angeles-based lawyer whose clients have included Michael Jackson and Colin Kaepernick.
His next court appearance is scheduled for March 14.
At his bond court appearance last Thursday, Smollett’s bail was set at $100,000 and he was also ordered to surrender his passport. He was released from the Cook County Jail shortly after his hearing.
Smollett, who is African-American and openly gay, reported that he was victim of a racist, homophobic attack in Streeterville in the early hours of Jan. 29.
He told investigators that he was attacked by two masked men who beat him, put a noose around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him while one of them yelled “This is MAGA country” — a reference to President Donald Trump’s catchphrase “Make America Great Again.”
Weeks after the report, Smollett was charged with disorderly conduct. Police have said Smollett orchestrated the attack on his own because he was dissatisfied with his salary on “Empire.”
