Apparently, a million dollars a year wasn’t enough for actor Jussie Smollett.
Chicago police said Thursday that Smollett, arrested on suspicion of filing a false report about a hate crime, sent himself a threatening letter and devised a fake attack because he was unhappy with his salary.
“This stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary,” said Eddie Johnson, superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. “So he concocted a story about being attacked.”
According to Huffington Post, Smollett was paid $65,000 per episode in the latest season of the hit Fox show “Empire.” At an average of 18 episodes per season, that would put the total haul at $1,170,000.
That represents a significant bump up in pay, more than 200 percent, from the rough estimate by Variety in 2016, which reckoned he was making $20,000 per episode.
The pay that Smollett, 36, gets far exceeds what the average American makes. The Census Bureau reported that in 2017 the median household income was $61,372.
Compared to other actors in the industry, Smollett — even before his arrest, which threatens to derail his career — still had a way to go to reach the pay heights of even some of his co-stars on the show.
Taraji Henson and Terrence Howard, who play the mother and father of Smollett’s character in the show (which is about a powerful family in the hip-hop industry) made $175,000 per episode, according to the same Variety report.
Smollett faces a felony charge of disorderly conduct and several years of prison time after he filed a police report claiming he was attacked by two men Jan. 29 in Chicago. Smollett, who is black and gay, claimed two white men yelled racist and homophobic slurs, tied a rope around his neck, and poured bleach on him.
Police said two brothers, Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo, who are black, were taken into custody and questioned by police about the alleged attack. Johnson said the brothers told police Smollett staged the attack because he was unhappy with his salary. Johnson also said the brothers participated in Smollett’s scheme because they were offered money: $3,500 before and another $500 after the alleged attack.
“Empire’ actor Jussie took advantage of the pain and racism to promote his own career,” said Johnson. “I am left hanging my head and asking ‘Why?’ Why would anyone, especially an African American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?”
