MSNBC did not cover breaking news of "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett being charged with filing a false police report about an attack in Chicago during its prime-time programs on Wednesday night.

Chicago police announced just before 8 p.m. that Smollett was being charged with faking his own attack, prompting Fox News and CNN to cover the story heavily for the remainder of the evening.

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But a review by The Hill of all four MSNBC programs from 8 p.m. to midnight showed no coverage of the Smollett story.

MSNBC did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Hill.

MSNBC’s prime-time lineup consists of "All In with Chris Hayes," "The Rachel Maddow Show" and "The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell." Former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams rounds out the network's live coverage for the evening with "The 11th Hour" at 11 p.m.

However, the Smollett story was covered by MSNBC throughout Thursday, including on "Morning Joe" in the morning.

Smollett surrendered to Chicago authorities on Thursday on a Class-4 felony charge.



"At 9am at #ChicagoPolice Headquarters, Supt Eddie Johnson, Commander of Area Central Detectives Edward Wodnicki will brief reporters on the investigation prior to the defendants appearance in court," a Chicago police spokesman said.



Smollett could face up to three years in prison if convicted of filing a false report.





“Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked," attorneys for Smollett said in a statement late Wednesday after the charge was filed.



"Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense," his attorneys said Thursday.