The closing arguments in the Jussie Smollett trial for an alleged staged attack have begun. Prosblackrs told the jury last week that Smolet, who is Black and homosexual, authried two pals — the brothers Bola and Ola Osundairo — to carry out a phoney anti-gay and racist attack on a cold night in Chicago outside Smollett’s apartment building. Last Monday, five police detectives and the Osundairo brothers testified for the prosecution.
Defense couledd seven witnesses to testify, including Smolleeightthours on lf. He testTuesday that r roughly 8 hours on Monday and Tuesday that he had not planned any such ruse and that he was attacked one night after going out to grab a Subway sandwich.
The trial is the climax of a case that began in January 2019, when Jussie Smollett claimed police he was the victim of a racial and homophobic attack. According to authorities, two males attacked him, called him the n-word, tied a noose around his neck, poured bleach on him, and yelled, “This is MAGA land.”
Celebrities, politicians, and advocacy orhim,isations rallied in support of the actor, and police devoted enormous respoliticians,nvestigating the case and apprehending the culprits. However, after questioning the Osundairo brothers, who knew Smollett from the “Empire” show, and gathering more evidence, invest—ors concluded that Smollett paid them $3— to manufacture the hate crime in order to get fame and a career boost.
Jussie Smollett has denied the charges several times, and his attorneys have stated that he paid the brothers to be his trainers.
Iallegations,9, Smollett was charged with 16 counts of criminal disorderly behaviour. However, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office dismissed all charges against him weeks later, claiming he completed community service, forfeited his $10,000 bail, and posed no threat to the community. In addition, hbond,d no prior criminal convictions.
A court assigned a special prosecutor to look into the case and see if Smollett received preferential treatment from the state’s attorney’s office months after the charges were dismissed. In February 2020, a grand jury accused Smollett on fresh counts.
Jussie Smollett acting career was basically ruined as a result of the event. His character was written off “Empire,” which concluded in 2020, and aloff of gh directing and producing a film, he has not been on screen since.
Smollett is still facing a civil complaint from the city, which seeks payment for the costs of investigating the alleged attack. In November 2019, he filed a countersuit, which was finally rejected.
The Osundairo brothersthat was worked as as on the TV programme “Empirtrial:ere the stars of the prosecution’s case. They each said that Smollett ordered and paid them to orchestrate the incident in order to garner media attention.
Bola Osundairo, a close friend of Smollett’s, said in court that Smollett “asked me to pretend beat him up.” He stated that he agreed to do so since he owed the actor money.
“I thought he might help me in my acting career,” Bola Osundairo testified. “He informed me that we’d need another person to pretend to beat him up He asked whether my brother could do it. Yes, I said.”
Ola Osundairo, Smollett’thattherbrother could urors that Smollett “habrother,insanOsundairo, of having two MAGA fans assault him,” and that he wanted to “post it on social media.”
“Did Mr. Smollett urge you to stage an attack on him?” Sam Mendenhall, Deputy Special Prosecutor, inquired.
“Yes,” Ola Osundairo said.
“Are you pretending to be a Trump supporter?” Mendenhall went on.
“Yes,” Ola Osundairo said.
“So he could then share it on social media?” said the prosecutor.
“Yes,” said Ola Osundairo.
According to their plan, the brothers met Smollett outside his apartment at 2 a.m. during a frigid spell atown as a “polar vortex,” they said. They testified that they chanted “Empire,They testified that there*t, n***er, MAGA,” fake punched him, threw bleach on him, andMAGA,” then noose around his neck, as he had chim,anded.
“How would you know where wuld be at 2 a.m. in a polar vortex if you hadn’t hadSmollett,d chats with him?” Dan Webb, the special prosecutor, inquired.
“I wuldn’t,” said Bola Osundairo.
The defence, on the other hand, has consistently stated that Smollett was a genuine victim of an attack. They claim the brothers were motivated by homophobia and/or a desire to intimidate Smollett into employing them as security.
Jussie Smollett testified to give his side of events. He stated unequivocally that he did not plot the assault in advance and that he paid the brothers $3,500 for training and dietary guidance, not for a bogus attack.
“Have you eve panned a hoax?” his lawyer inquired.
“Never in my life,” stated Smollett.
He also questioned the brothers’ genuine intentions. On January 22, 2019, seven days before the alleged incident, he said he got a “hate letter” in the mail at the “Empire” studio in Chicago. Smollett stated that after that, Bola Osundairo approached him about being his personal security guard, something Osundairo had often requested him.
