On Tuesday, former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett took the stand for the second day in a row at his trial.
The 39-year-old actor, under oath, had denied all allegations that he invited the Osundairo brothers on a “dry run” of his attack two days before it took place. The two siblings, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, previously testified that Smollett paid them to pose as his attackers in downtown Chicago in January of 2019.
Smollett faced tense as he sat in the witness stand, continued cross-examination from Special Prosecutor Dan Webb, who started to question him as a witness the previous day. In the first part of the day, Webb forced Smollett to deny the allegation that he picked the Osundairo brothers up in his car and drove them around the area where he wanted the attack to be orchestrated.
According to the prosecution, this is where the Osundairo brothers said Smollett handed them a check of $3,500 as payment for the deed. After giving them the money, Smollett then instructed the brothers on what to buy, what to say. However, Smollett, during the entire trial, has denied that he pre-planned the attack with the two brothers. Smollett claims that he and the brothers were just driving around town smoking marijuana for fun after canceling plans to go to the gym that day.
According to reports, surveillance video shows Smollett driving the brothers three times around the area that day. The actor, however, noted that the site isn’t far from the garage to his apartment building. Smollett also stated that he was texting about a potential interview with MSNBC during the time he is accused of planning the attack with the brothers.
Webb also showed personal Instagram messages between Smollett and one of the brothers, Bola Osundairo. In the messages, the actor continued to update Bola on his whereabouts and flight delay information on the night of the attack. This makes the case that Smollett worked with Bola to time out the planned attack. The duo had a long chat when the prosecutor started to read the messages aloud. The use of the N-word was included in some of the messages, which prompted Smollett to interrupt Webb and ask him to spell or abbreviate the word in order not to offend “every African American in this room.”
Webb permitted Smollett to read his own messages to the court. However, Webb said that he would not censor the quotations of the actor’s messages. Smollett complied, and the two moved on.
From there, the prosecutor concluded his cross-examination of Smollett by talking about the night of the alleged attack. Webb called Bola Osundairo’s testimony that he was told to attack Smollett at 2 a.m. that night a “bold-faced lie.” On the contrary, Smollett alleges that he was out that night to buy eggs at a Walgreens that he thought was open 24/7. Smollett said he stopped to get a Subway sandwich instead when he realized the store was closed. On his way home, two men attacked Smollett, but the actor claims he could not identify his attackers.
In his previous testimony, Smollett said that he assumed the two men, based on their use of the N-word as well as the phrase “MAGA,” were White. Smollett also denied telling officers that he was certain the two men were White, saying he used the term “pale-skinned” in an effort not to make assumptions or be racist.
So far, Smollett has pleaded not guilty to six counts of disorderly conduct on the accusation of making false reports to Chicago police. The charge could make Smollett spend up to three years in jail. On Wednesday, closing arguments are set to take place in Jussie Smollett’s trial, CNN reported.
