The 16 felony counts was absurd, but prosecutors overcharge all. the. time. Has very little to do with Smollett's race or sexuality or celebrity. To the extent his celebrity contributed to the notoriety of the hoax, then yes, arguably his celebrity indirectly contributed to the overcharging. Whatever - who cares? Overcharging is not an excuse for letting him completely off the hook.
I expected that the prosecutor was going to offer him a guilty plea on one felony count, pay restitution, and apologize, in exchange for a recommendation of minimal jail time and community service. Which would have been very reasonable. This is just absurd and suspect as all hell. It's the Chicago Way.