Jussie Smollett trial witness says actor staged attack, wanted to be ‘fake beat up’
CHICAGO — The man Jussie Smollett allegedly paid to help him stage a hate crime took the stand in the actor’s criminal trial Wednesday, describing how he took part in the hoax because he thought the ‘”Empire” star could help push his own acting career.
Abimbola Osundairo, 28, told jurors in Chicago’s criminal court on day three of the trial how Smollett directed nearly every aspect of the alleged fake attack, from the racial and homophobic slurs he and his brother, Olabinjo, were to use down to who should throw the punches.
“He explained that he wanted me to fake beat him up,” Osundairo testified.
“I agreed to do it because most importantly, I felt indebted to him, to Jussie,” Osundairo said “He also got me a stand-in role on ‘Empire’ and I also believed that he could help further my acting career.”
Osundairo and his brother are at the center of the sensational long-awaited trial as the prosecution’s star witnesses. About two weeks after Smollett told police he was the victim of a vicious hate crime on a frigid night in January 2019, the brothers were arrested but confessed the actor paid them $3,500 to stage the attack. Smollett’s team vigorously denies the allegation and claims the men intended to attack him, potentially because they’re homophobic.
Smollett is facing six counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to police and if convicted, faces up to three years in jail.
Osundairo, who also worked on the set of “Empire,” testified that he and Smollett met through a mutual friend in 2017 and over the next year and a half became extremely close as they spent time together smoking weed, visiting strip clubs and having sleepovers at the star’s Streeterville high-rise.
“I would call him my brother,” Osundairo testified, adding Smollett would ask him to procure weed, cocaine and molly for him.
nypost.com/2021/12/01/jussie-smollett-trial-witness-abimbola-osundairo-says-actor-staged-entire-attack/