Smollett’s legal team needs to cast doubt on the brothers’ damaging testimony, but it isn’t easy.
He added: “It was simply just to get the truth out of what happened that night.” Olabingo Osundairo told jurors he talked to police without a promise of immunity or under any sort of favorable deal. He said Smollett told him that he wanted to use it to generate media attention, and that he has never lied to Chicago police. In follow-up questioning by Webb, Osundairo said he never thought Smollett would go to the police to report the fake attack as a real hate crime.
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In statements that were widely ridiculed because the brothers are Black, Smollett had said he saw pale or white skin around the eyes of one of his masked attackers.ĭuring cross examination, Allen asked Abimbola Osundairo, who worked as a stand-in on the Chicago set of “Empire,” if he tried to get a $5,000-per-week job as Smollett’s security and if after he was questioned by police and released he told Smollett he and his brother wouldn’t testify at his trial if they were each paid $1 million. Olabingo Osundairo also denied a white person was involved, or that he and his brother even wore masks or makeup to make it appear they were white. The class 4 felony carries a prison sentence of up to three years, but experts have said if Smollett is convicted he likely would be placed on probation and ordered to perform community service. 29, 2019 - one count for each time he gave a report - to three different officers. Smollett, 39, is charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct for making what prosecutors say was a false police report about the alleged attack on Jan. He testified that he has nothing against gays and the jury was shown a photo of the siblings taking part in Chicago’s 2015 gay pride parade dressed as trojan warriors. Osundairo also addressed the defense contention that the brothers were driven by homophobia.
He said Smollett wanted his brother to do the punching, and that it should look like he fought back. They opted to pour bleach on Smollett, Osundairo said, because he wasn’t comfortable using gasoline.
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Olabingo Osundairo said Smollett told him he received hate mail at the TV studio in Chicago “and he had this crazy idea of having two MAGA supporters attack him,” an apparent reference to then-President Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again.” Osundairo believed the plan was to publicize the attack on social media, not to involve police, he said. Olabingo Osundairo’s testimony echoed the account his brother, Abimbola Osundairo, gave on the witness stand a day earlier, including that Smollett wanted the brothers to douse him with gasoline and put a noose around his neck, and that Smollett gave them a $100 bill to buy the supplies and paid them with a $3,500 check. Before the state rested Thursday, Smollett’s lawyer worked to discredit the brothers’ accounts, suggesting they attacked Smollett because they didn’t like him, and tried to get him to pay them each $1 million not to testify that he staged the assault.ĭefense attorney Shay Allen suggested the brothers were motivated to accuse Smollett of staging the hoax because they disliked the performer - who is gay and Black - and then saw an opportunity to make money.