The Jussie Smollett case continues its years-long presence in headlines this week with the release of a new documentary special focused on Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo’s side of the story.
The two men, who are brothers, return to the scene of the allegedly staged crime for a new multi-part special that’s quite unfortunately the work of Fox Nation. In it, both men—who previously alleged defamation in connection with Smollett’s remarks about the case—recalled how they first came into contact with the Empire actor.
“Jussie was their friend and they didn’t want to betray their friend,” an attorney for the two brothers told Extra, as seen below.
Both men also returned to the scene of the alleged 2019 hate crime hoax, going so far as walking the cameras through what they say happened on that fateful night. According to both, Smollett was adamant about the incident ultimately looking like a crime against which he fought back. To make it look “more real,” the two brothers said, they used knuckles to give the actor a mark on his head to further add realism.
“We was in character the whole time,” Olabinjo said.
This footage and the ensuing revived coverage arrives mere days after Smollett’s legal team was reported to be appealing the actor’s previously announced 150-day sentence. In 2021, Smollett was found guilty of lying to authorities about the claimed homophobic attack after the aforementioned brothers said in court they had been paid $3,500 for their involvement in the alleged hoax.
Smollett, however, has continued to maintain his innocence in the case. In June of last year, for example, Smollett opened up about the case during a Sway in the Morning interview.
“If I had done this, I’d be a piece of shit,” he said at the time.
