Jussie Smollett, the former “Empire” actor, will testify again in his Chicago trial on Tuesday, claiming that charges that he fabricated an anti-gay, racist attack on himself were “100% untrue.”
Prosecutors will continue to cross-examine the 39-year-old, who remained composed throughout his testimony on Monday. He told jurors that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood and that “there was no fake.”
Last week, Smollett, who is accused of lying to Chicago police about the January 2019 attack, attempted to counter incriminating testimony from two brothers. They claimed that Smollett, who is gay and Black, planned the hoax to gain attention, paying them $100 for supplies and instructed them to tie a noose around his neck and hurl homophobic obscenities. They further said that Smollett paid them $3,500 to carry it out.
Smollett claimed he paid Abimbola Osundairo $3,500 for nutrition and exercise advice. When asked by his defense attorney if he ever paid Osundairo for a hoax, Smollett replied, “Never.”
Attorney Nenye Uche inquired once more if he was planning a scam.
“There was no hoax,” Smollett stated.
Smollett told jurors that he had just returned from a trip and was going home after purchasing a sandwich around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2019, when a racist and homophobic insult was hurled at him. Smollett claimed he turned around to confront the individual, who he described as towering over him.
Standing in the Chicago courtroom, Smollett displayed how the attacker allegedly approached him rapidly, then pointed to his left temple to show where the assailant struck him.
“I’d like to think I got a punch in.” “However, I’m not sure if it landed,” Smollett remarked. He claimed they fought for up to 30 seconds on the ground, and he noticed a second attacker fleeing.
Because he used a racist slur and shouted “MAGA country,” an apparent allusion to then-President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” Smollett assumed the guy who attacked him was white. Last week, two Black brothers, Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo, claimed that Smollett told them to yell “this is MAGA land” during the phony assault.
Smollett claimed he “was jumped” after picking up his phone and telling the person he was speaking with. As he returned to his residence, he discovered a noose around his neck, he testified. Smollett claimed he took the noose off, but a friend at his residence contacted the cops and told him to put it back on so officers could see it. Smollett expressed his displeasure with the police being contacted since he would never have done such.
“I am an African-American man living in America. Smollett stated, “I don’t trust the cops.” “At the time, I was also a well-known figure who was openly gay.”
Smollett claimed during cross-examination that he refused to hand up his smartphone to Chicago police for their investigation because he wanted his privacy. Smollett responded no when asked by special prosecutor Dan Webb if he was concerned the phone would reveal many calls to Abimbola Osundairo.
Smollett also said that Osundairo informed him that while he was in Nigeria, he could buy a herbal steroid that promotes weight loss but is forbidden in the United States “on the low” — or secretly.
Smollett sent Osundairo a text message about talking “on the low,” and during the chat, Smollett asked him about helping fake the attack, according to Osundairo. Smollett stated on Monday that the message was about the illicit steroid.
“Fully untrue, 100 percent fake,” Smollett said when Webb inquired about Osundairo’s testimony that Smollett recruited him for a hoax.
According to defense counsel, the Osundairo brothers accused Smollett of orchestrating the hoax because they despised him and saw an opportunity to profit from it. They claimed that after being questioned by police about the purported incident, the brothers offered Smollett $1 million each if he would not testify against him.
Smollett said he met Abimbola Osundairo at a bar in 2017 and discovered that she worked on the “Empire” set. He claimed the two guys consumed drugs together and went to a bathhouse, where they “made out,” according to Smollett. He claimed the two males went on to do additional drugs and perform sex acts together later. Last week, Osundairo testified that he and Smollett had no sexual relationship.
Smollett testified that he met Olabingo, Abimbola’s brother, but that they did not converse. When they were together near his brother, he stated Abimbola Osundairo made it feel like they needed to “sneak off.” Smollett claimed he had no faith in Olabingo Osundairo.
Smollett allegedly fabricated the incident because he was dissatisfied with the “Empire” studio’s response to hate mail he received, according to prosecutors. A drawing of a stick figure hanging by a noose with a gun aimed at it and the word “MAGA” were included in the message.
Smollett, 39, is charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a fraudulent police report about the purported attack with three separate officers – one count for each time he filed a complaint. The class 4 felony carries a maximum term of three years in jail, but experts say that if Smollett is convicted, he will most likely be sentenced to probation and community service.