The 36-year-old actor’s lawyer, Tina Glandian, entered the plea on Smollett’s behalf after Judge Steven Watkins was assigned to oversee the case, including the trial.
A grand jury in Chicago previously indicted Smollett on 16 felony counts, which his attorneys have called “prosecutorial overkill”.
Empire actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty in a Chicago court on Thursday to charges that he falsely reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic assault on a city street.
Police initially arrested the brothers on 13 February, after they were recognised from surveillance footage from near the scene of the alleged attack.