In total, the City Council approved $77.9 million in settlements in seven lawsuits, including more than $62 million in cases alleging police misconduct. The city had budgeted $82 million in 2025 to cover police misconduct settlements, and had already blown through that money before Wednesday's settlements, less than halfway through the year.

In January 2019, Jussie Smollett reported to Chicago police that he was assaulted in a hate crime involving racial and homophobic slurs. He was treated at the hospital and released the same day. A police investigation later concluded that Smollett had orchestrated the attack by paying two brothers, who were acquaintances, to stage the incident.