Jussie Smollett entered a formal not guilty plea to 16 counts of disorderly conduct in a Chicago court on Thursday, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Smollett was indicted by a Cook County grand jury on those 16 felony counts last week after being accused of lying to police regarding a Jan. 29 incident, in which he said he was randomly attacked by two men shouting racial and homophobic slurs in his Chicago neighborhood.
The “Empire” star was originally charged with one felony count for filing a false police report by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office last month.