“I was confused. I looked puzzled. He [Smollett] explained to me that he wanted me to fake beat him up,” said Abimbola Osundairo, who met the actor while he worked as an extra on “Empire” in 2017.
One of the brothers who said he was recruited by Jussie Smollett to stage a homophobic and racist attack said the “Empire” actor told him “he wanted me to beat him up” and was the one who suggested he say an anti-gay slur and MAGA during the fake assault.
“I was confused. I looked puzzled. He [Smollett] explained to me that he wanted me to fake beat him up,” testified Abimbola Osundairo, who met Smollett while he worked as an extra on “Empire” in 2017.
Osundairo, 28, told Special Prosecutor Dan Webb Wednesday, that he and Smollett had a brotherly bond and that he would procure drugs for the actor while Smollett would help Osundairo with his budding acting career.
“We became good friends. I would say I would call him my brother,” Osundairo said of the pair’s tight friendship.
So when Smollett made the peculiar request in the winter of 2019, “I agreed to do it, because more importantly, I felt indebted to Jussie… I also believed he could help further my acting career,” Osundairo said.
Osundairo said Smollett texted him on Jan. 25, 2019 saying, “Might need your help on the low.”
Later, when the the two were in a car, Osundairo said Smollett asked if he could trust him. Smollett then complained that the TV studio didn’t take hate mail he received seriously and “proceeded to tell me that he wanted me to beat him up,” Osundairo said.
The pair then drove to the Osundairo family’s Lake View home where Osundairo’s brother, Olabinjo Osundairo, joined them in the car.
Smollett, who didn’t know Olabinjo Osundairo as well, went on to ask him if he could trust him too, Abimbola Osundairo said.
Then, “We went over the details of what he wanted us to say and do,” said Abimbola Osundairo.
Abimbola Osundairo said Smollett told the siblings that they should tie a noose around his neck, pour bleach on him and run away in the midst of the fake attack.
As they drove around for ten minutes, Smollett told “us we would need to purchase gasoline, we would need to purchase a rope, gloves, a ski mask and a red hat,” Abimbola Osundairo said.
Olabinjo Osundairo is also expected to take the stand against 39-year-old Smollett who has been charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly lying about being attacked.
Earlier Wednesday two Chicago police detectives said when Smollett was considered a victim by authorities, he identified one of his attackers as white.
But when the Osundairos were arrested in early February, he changed his story and said the man was “pale skinned,” Detective Robert Graves said.
Graves said when he confronted Smollett about the discrepancy, he said, “Well, he acted like he was white by what he said.”
Of the Osundairo brothers, Smollett later said, it “can’t be them, they’re Black as sin,” Graves said.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, said as he was returning to his Streeterville apartment building after a stop at a Subway sandwich shop on Jan. 29, 2019, when he heard someone yell “Empire n*****, Empire f*****,” Graves’ partner, Detective Kimberly Murray, told jurors on the third day of Smollett’s trial.
“What the f*** you say to me,” Murray said Smollett told her he replied.
“This is MAGA country,” Smollett said one of his two attackers yelled, along with a racial slur, before he was pummeled to the ground, Murray said.
Smollett said he could tell one of his attackers was white because he could see the attacker’s skin and part of his nose behind a ski mask he was wearing, Murray said.
Smollett also told Murray he received a homophobic phone call and a letter with a picture of stick figure with a noose around its neck days before he said he was assaulted.
But he declined to give his cellphone to police when they wanted to further investigate to see if the attack was tied to the previous two incidents.
Smollett also declined to have his medical records released or submit a DNA sample, Graves and Murray said.
“He said he wanted his privacy and he didn’t want the information to be leaked out.” Graves said.
Graves said in his 30 years as a detective he knew of only one crime victim who had ever refused to provide their cellphone to investigators.
Graves then stood up and extended his finger toward Smollett seated at the defense table in Cook County Judge James Linn’s courtroom.
“Mr. Smollett is the only one,” he said.
On Wednesday, Special Prosecutor Sean Weiber asked Graves, “Is it fair to say Mr. Smollett lied to you during your reinterview on Feb. 14?”
“Yes,” Graves replied.
Smollett said he would press charges against the Osundairos but never did, Graves testified.