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Celebrities and lawmakers showed an outpouring of love and support for the actor in the wake of the alleged attack, but some walked back their initial praise when the Chicago Police Department called him a suspect last week.

Smollett was arrested Thursday on felony disorderly conduct charges for allegedly filing a false police report late last month, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Smollett, who portrays a gay musician on Fox's \"Empire,\" said he was attacked on Jan. 29 at around 2 a.m. as he was leaving a Subway restaurant in Chicago. He told police that two attackers gained his attention by yelling racial and homophobic slurs at him, according to an initial incident report.

Smollett said the attackers put a noose around his neck, poured an unknown substance on him and used their hands, feet and teeth as weapons in the assault, but investigators say it was all a hoax.

\"PHOTO:
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Jussie Smollett (left) and Terrence Howard attend an event on May 14, 2018, in New York City.
>
\"PHOTO:
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Terrence Howard attends an event on May 14, 2018, in New York City.
>

Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson said investigators determined Smollett made up the attack and paid two brothers to help him orchestrate it in hopes of winning a pay raise for his role on \"Empire.\"

Smollett has maintained his innocence. He pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday and was released on $100,000 bond.

\"Today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system, his legal team said in a statement Thursday. \"The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr. Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election.\"

\"Mr. Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence and feels betrayed by a system that apparently wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing,\" the team added.

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