Chicago Police are officially investigating actor Jussie Smollet for possibly staging an attack on himself.

Chicago PD tweeted on Wednesday that "Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by #ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report." The tweet goes on to say this is a Class 4 felony and detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County grand jury.

Last month, the 36-year old openly gay actor told police that two men shouting racist and homophobic slurs had accosted him on the street and put a rope around his neck.

News of that attack had sparked outrage on social media, but some questioned Smollett's account when apparent inconsistencies began to surface.

A local Chicago news station last week quoted sources saying Smollett staged the attack to gain publicity because he was losing his role on hip-hop drama "Empire".

But on Wednesday-before the Chicago police announced Smollet as a suspect- 20th century Fox issued a statement saying Smollet was not being written off the show.

Police have not found any surveillance video of the reported attack, which they said was being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Two brothers, who were arrested and released in connection with the attack are cooperating with the police.