Jussie Smollett has been found guilty of staging a racist, homophobic attack on himself in a bid to bolster his career. The former Empire actor told police he was accosted on a street by two masked strangers in January 2019. Once reported, the alleged assault prompted a massive investigation in which included around two dozen officers, and 3,000 staff hours.
With nearly two weeks of trial having taken place, the guilty verdict finally came back following a testimony from the two alleged attackers. The testimony claimed Smollett had actually recruited the brothers to fake an attack on him although, the actor has repeatedly denied this.
Found guilty of five of the six felony disorderly conduct counts against him, the actor stood and faced the jury with no visible reaction showing. Abimbola Osundairo, who worked with Smollett on the Chicago set of Empire, and his brother, Olabingo Osundairo, said Smollett orchestrated the hoax. The pair claimed to have been told to use racist and homophobic slurs, put a noose around his neck and rough him up in view of a surveillance camera.
They also said Smollett paid them $3,500 to stage the attack in an effort to raise his show business profile. When Smollett reported the alleged attack to police, he told them he was attacked by supporters of then-president Donald Trump - igniting political divisions around the country.
During the trial, Smollett testified about being the victim of what he said was a hate crime, telling the jury that “there was no hoax”. In a last-ditch attempt to filter his lies, Smollett said the brothers’ account was “100% false”, calling them “liars”. His defence lawyers argued that the brothers attacked the actor - who is gay and black - because they were homophobic and did not like “who he was”. Further alleging the pair made up their version of events, the brothers were accused of blackmailing Smollett for $1 million, in exchange for their silence.
Following the verdict, special prosecutor Dan Webb called the verdict “a resounding message by the jury that Mr Smollett did exactly what we said he did”. While Gloria Rodriguez, attorney for Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo, said her clients “could not be more thrilled and pleased with the result”, they understand “there is a lot of healing that needs to happen”.
Smollett's defence attorney, Nenye Uche, said the TV actor would appeal his conviction as he is disappointed of the verdict. He is, however, confident his client will be “cleared of all accusations on all charges” as he is “100% innocent”. Cook County Judge, James Linn, has set a post-trial hearing for January 27th, with Smollett's sentencing scheduled at a later date.
