Chicago

Empire’s ratings suffered series-lows on Wednesday as fallout from actor Jussie Smollett being indicted for filing a false police report continues to plague the Fox drama.

CHICAGO (AP) — Cash-strapped R. Kelly asked a judge Wednesday to let him travel to the Middle East to perform several concerts, according to a new court filing that said he has struggled to get work in the U.S. since his February arrest on sex abuse charges.

The Chicago police union’s president alleges that the county’s top prosecutor interfered with the investigation of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett before recusing herself and wants the Justice Department to determine if she broke any laws.

Ratings for the Fox television show Empire are plummeting after its star, Jussie Smollett was arrested for apparently staging a fake hate crime attack against himself.

CHICAGO (AP) — ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges accusing him of lying to the police about being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in downtown Chicago a few weeks ago.

Cook County, Illinois’s top prosecutor lobbied the Chicago Police Department to give their investigation of a hate hoax Empire actor Jussie Smollett allegedly staged against himself to the FBI following pressure by an ex-aide to former first lady Michelle Obama, according to a report.

While ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett may still have the support of his castmates amid allegations that he staged a bigoted assault on himself, some crew members of the hit Fox television program are said to have been left  “disgusted” by the saga.

Jussie Smollett’s defense attorney Mark Geragos appeared on CNN Friday and declared on air that Smollett is the victim of a “media gangbang.”

If it can be proved he deliberately used the mail to commit a fraudulent act, that is a federal crime that could mean up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett on Friday was indicted by a grand jury in Chicago on 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct in connection to filing a false report about an alleged hate crime against himself.

R. Kelly grew up in a public housing project in one of Chicago’s toughest South Side neighborhoods and built a worldwide musical brand that earned tens of millions of dollars over a nearly 30-year career.

R&B singer R. Kelly has been arrested in Chicago again, this time for reportedly owing $161,000 in unpaid child support.

In his first interview since being charged with sexual abuse, R&B star R. Kelly cried and ranted about being “assassinated,” calling his accusers liars and alleging that people are after him for his money.

Musician Queen Latifah said in a new interview that she still supports indicted felon Jussie Smollett because she hasn’t seen “definitive proof” that he staged an attack against himself, as Chicago police now believe.

“Saturday Night Live” mocked now-alleged felon Jussie Smollett, saying that the “Empire” actor “broke humanity” with his hate hoax.

The City of Chicago had its elections last night, and while the final winner is yet to be revealed, it is beyond a doubt that the next leader will be the city’s first black, female mayor.

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago judge says “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett can travel out-of-state to meet his lawyers while he’s free on bond on charges he falsely reported being attacked by two masked men.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the sexual abuse case against R&B singer R. Kelly.

The middle class in Chicago is “almost gone,” new research finds, as the vast majority of residents are either wealthy professionals or working-class residents living paycheck to paycheck.

The city of Chicago has lost over half its middle-class residents since 1970, replaced by lower income and poor residents — and some richer ones — as taxes rise, debt grows, and the pension crisis explodes.

CHICAGO (AP) — R&B star R. Kelly’s attorney entered not guilty pleas on the singer’s behalf Monday after Kelly was charged with sexually abusing four victims dating back to 1998, including three underage teenagers.

A Chicago publisher is set to turn socialist star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) into a comic book superhero “kicking” Republican butt.

CHICAGO (AP) — While on trial for child pornography in 2008, R. Kelly still found time to talk to fans, give autographs and to meet an underage girl he later invited to his home, according to prosecutors who depicted the R&B star as manipulative and sometimes violent.

“Empire” star Terrence Howard showed support for his fellow co-star Jussie Smollett against claims that he orchestrated a fake hate crime against himself, declaring that the man he knows could never “even conceive of something so unconscious and ugly.”

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis said embattled Empire star Jussie Smollett “needs mental health help,” after police in Chicago determined that he orchestrated a fake violent hate crime against himself.

CHICAGO (AP) — R. Kelly, the R&B star who has been trailed for decades by allegations that he violated underage girls and women and held some as virtual slaves, is due in court Saturday after being charged with aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.

Embattled Empire actor and now-alleged felon Jussie Smollett went after President Donald Trump in a taped, but unaired, episode of TNT’s “Drop the Mic.r”

Lee Daniels, co-creator of the Fox TV show “Empire,” stealthily deleted an Instagram video this week about the “attack” against Jussie Smollett.

Appearing on the Fox News Channel Friday, former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis predicted the legal team of Empire actor Jussie Smollett will besmirch Chicago law enforcement in an attempt to beat a felony charge for filing a false police report regarding an alleged stage attack on him last month. 

On Thursday’s “CNN Tonight,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel stated that national media and politicians should “take a step back,” and think about how they should handle stories like the Jussie Smollett story in the future and that “before we rush