Actor Jussie Smollett took to the stand in his own defense December 6 in his ongoing trial for faking a hate crime. In his testimony, Smollett claimed that he had sex and used drugs with one of the men he allegedly hired to help him stage the attack. He further claimed that he in no way perpetrated a hoax.
Smollett maintains that he did not fake a hate crime he reported in January 2019.
“There was no hoax,” Smollett told the court, according to The New York Post. “What happened to me, happened.”
Smollett asserted that the attack terrified him, as he feared injury to his face. “I’m not a character actor, you know, if I was a character actor maybe it’d be different,” he told the court. “My character was a superstar, a pop star, a beloved GQ whatever, it was very important that I looked like a black Cary Grant.”
“I have a scar that has not healed under my right eye, three years later I have blackness around my left eye that has not healed… my injuries were real,” an emotional Smollett testified.
“The moment I got beat I became a f*ggot who got his ass whooped,” he added, claiming that the attack would have hurt his career.
Related: The never-ending Jussie Smollett hate crime drama is finally heading into its final act
Smollett also testified that a check for $3,500 paid to Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo–two men who claim to have helped Smollett stage the attack–was only for nutritional and physical training. He also claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Abimbola.
Smollett says he met Amibola Osundario in 2017 while visiting a nightclub. After a few hours of partying the two adjourned to Chicago’s famed gay bathhouse, Steamworks. Smollett says that he and Abimbola then began using cocaine and had a sexual encounter.
“We were in a club, you go to the bathroom, go to a stall, do a bump, do a bump and then just kind of keep going in and then we went to the bathhouse,” Smollet told the court. “We did more drugs and made out,” he elaborated, adding the pair were “touching and things like that.”
The two returned to Steamworks another day, and this time, the relationship became more sexual. “We went alone this time. We got a private room again, we did drugs and made out a little bit and this time, we masturbated together,” he said.
Amibola Osundario, for his part, has denied any sexual relationship or encounters with Smollett. Smollett also claimed that Ola Osundario was not aware of the sexual relationship between Amibola and Smollett. Smollett accused the Osundario brothers of attempted blackmail, and claimed that his reluctance to cooperate with police stemmed from his distrust of law enforcement as a gay man.
“I am a Black man in America. I do not trust the police,” Smollett said.
Smollett stands trial for six counts of felony disorderly conduct in connection with the faking of the hate crime. In January 2019, he reported being attacked by two masked men, beaten, doused in bleach, and that he had a noose tied around his neck. He further alleged that his attackers yelled homophobic and racist slurs while shouting “This is MAGA country.” Within about two weeks of the attack, police raided the home of the Osundario brothers and compiled evidence that Smollett had paid them to fake the crime. Smollett was subsequently fired from his job on the Fox TV series Empire as a result of the allegations.
Max
wow, he’s boring in the sex department…
rock9221
Possibly the saddest part of this whole saga.
Joshooeerr
Guys who are more focused on drugs often are boring sex.
Mister P
Attention there more serious issues Chicago should be focusing on ?
barryaksarben
exactly. HE didnt shoot anyone or kill anyone which a white teenager can do at will. He did waste resources ( I dont believe him wither) but make him pay for it and give him a pleas deal that all other false reporters get
Fahd
A capital W, Waste of judicial resources.
Did his story hold up under cross examination?
bumblebum
F this dumbass, just cop to your sh*t and move. Quit moving the goal post Queen #JussieSmollett . Jussie, sounds just like bussy, mussy, wussy
ARTmark
“…A black Cary Grant” ?!! That statement alone would have made it possible for Smollet to have taken an insanity plea…..
Joseph1971
You got that right!!!!!! So let me get this straight? They went to the bathroom, did some coke and decided then to go to a bathhouse. They only made out and “stuff like that”. Then they went to the bathhouse again, did some coke, made out and masturbated together. Please, why spend the money on a bathhouse. In many bars in Chicago, you can make out, do some coke, AND masturbate without leaving the comfort of your bathroom stall. I mean, really, I guess he doesn’t want to admit that he actually had oral or anal sex, right? Well, sorry Mr. Black Gay Cary Grant, no one is buying that bunch of bull. Your career is done, you are toast. Hope you are hung, maybe you can start an only fans page.
Joshooeerr
However deluded he is, he’s not denying being gay.
Kangol2
He’s decently endowed. There are photos floating around there, IJS.
I was expecting a bit more fireworks going off in that bathhouse. Like Jussie copping to a gangbang that Abel initiated, etc. Then again, he was a high-profile celebrity and (almost?) no one is bringing cameras or taping devices into a bathhouse, whereas in a bar, anything is possible.
CNYMASC
Just a publicity stunt, move on
jthomasmpls
Just a publicity stunt? Move on? WTF? Falsely perpetuating racism and homophobia is a big deal and I believe should be taken seriously if we want the issues of racism and homophobia taken seriously!
I also agree this a huge waste of police and judicial resources. This wouldn’t be happening if he had the good judgment to not pull a “publicly stunt”!!
Mr. Stadnick
Cocaine in a bath house did this happen in 1980?
Miles
He sounds delusional. Seriously.
bakeembakeem
Jesse is a classic narcissist and having a field day being a part of a never ending hoax, but strangely enough this could have been a very believable real story had it been someone other than Jesse
Kangol2
But it was someone other than “Jesse,” it was “Jussie” Smollett.
SoloMcDaniel
In a separate article, he claims he was constantly recognized on the street as that Empire actor. Now he’s telling us that he was able to do drugs in a club and go to Steamworks TWICE without being recognized? I call BS. I live in Chicago and if this happened, the Chicago queens would be “spilling the tea” all over. Also no one ever walks on the lower street where the “attack” occurred. It’s used primarily for sanitation and freight trucks.
Squeak
I think he’s cute . . .
MISTERJETT
he is cute. not someone i’d be interested in sexually, but he is a very attractive young man.
MISTERJETT
i’m wondering why so many people are willing to accept what the two brothers say as the gospel truth. i believe Jussie.
Mack
I tend to agree with you. We don’t know because NONE of us were there.
richybruce
I’m sure you think the earth is flat too.
Heywood Jablowme
It’s strange he’s so casual about cocaine use – did anyone even ask about that? – but he’s so prudish about “touching and stuff.”
rbernard
Jussie Smollett has terrible advisors and a overrated opinion of himself.
Jussie should have said he was guilty, had made a terrible mistake that cost him dearly, and was very, very, very, sorry.
He should have worked with the courts.
Redemption could be a powerful thing and would have worked if Jussie would have stopped doubling down with the lies.
Nobody likes being lied to.
nm4047
publicity will result in a new show in the next stage of this man’s saga of a life.
Openminded
Possibly so, but how much can he make on a one and done expose on how he messed up his life?
Caddy4J
This is truly sad it’s gone this far. Black Cary Grant?? Not in your wildest and deranged mind would you ever come close. You’re not even a good actor, or singer. You’re now ex Empire cast mates don’t believe you, Lee Daniels, who was once backed you, is appalled by your behavior. (Read his statement.)Your story has changed so much, even the people you brainwashed to believe you, don’t believe you. It all comes down to you’re very first and most egregious error, The “check” you couldn’t have paid cash like most criminals do so it can’t be traced. As very many have stated, terrible use of resources, and I hope your made liable for reimbursement of resources used for the big lie.
Bonuscheque
I feel so bad for him, he lacks any self awareness to see how ridiculous and self destructive he is. Dude, just man up and move on. Nobody will hire him now. So sad.
Fname Optional Lname
Wow! He’s just as bad as the mighty Orange one in the sense that they are both such huge narcissists that he actually believes if people can hear him on the stand they will absolutely fall for whatever story he tells. He thinks he is the smartest person in the room and apparently he thinks he is a Cary Grant look alike as well! Meanwhile he is just repeating things from an article he read about partying in Studio 54 in the 70’s! Oh a bump in the bathroom and a little hand job at 2am! How sad that the city of Chicago has had to endure this for as long as it’s been going on.
Heywood Jablowme
He WAS a black Cary Grant, but now because of his imaginary facial injuries from the imaginary assault he is now doomed to a career as a lowly “character actor”!
He’s a character all right. But it’ll be a few years before he gets hired as a character actor. Maybe he can play himself on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and JB Smoove can talk some sense into him.
leonard
This parasite will stoop at nothing to benefit his ego. Now he is outing someone without their permission. He really is pathetic and hope we never hear from him.
barryaksarben
we dont know what happened and if the guy is lying then he deserves to be outed if he is preying on gays.
letthemeatcake
How many ways can one spell LOSER?!?!?
His pathetic little career is over with anyway, so who really cares what this little piece of excrement does any more.
arie570
I am not even going to start with Jussie. The article is written very badly. How does this make sense?
‘his reluctance to cooperate with police stemmed from his distrust of law enforcement as a gay man.
“I am a Black man in America. I do not trust the police,” Smollett said.
These statements contradict each other.
Kangol2
Your comment doesn’t make sense; his statement is quite logical and hardly contradictory. As both a gay and Black he man distrusts the cops, who have a long history of brutality against gay people AND brutality and murder especially against Black people. What don’t you grasp?
inbama
His explanation sounds perfectly credible and the security guard now backs him up.
Everyone keeps saying he did it for publicity. Why would a successful actor need this kind of publicity? The motive makes no sense.
Two thugs, the downlow and blackmail – yep, that narrative actually does make sense.
Chrisk
To get better pay.
h ttps://www.businessinsider.com/jussie-smollett-empire-salary-compared-to-tv-highest-paid-actors-2019-2
powersthatbe
A claim of looking like Cary Grant by Jussie Smollett is like a claim of looking like Brad Pitt by SpongeBob SquarePants.
Tombear
He will receive probation and a nasty fine. NEXT!
CityguyUSA
I don’t see anything that makeup couldn’t fix.
Bengali
Everything points to Jussie setting this up for personal gain. Disgusting. He had the opportunity for a wonderful career – very talented singer and actor. But he’s actually just a huge liar. How many will now that have their stories of being assaulted taken seriously because Jussie is really only about ME ME ME. Letdown for so many.
I hope he’s gets a three year prison sentence. Our community does not need this bullshi*. I have many friends of color and they’re all furious about his actions. The arrogant prick that he appears to be just made things harder for black people to be taken seriously. And it’s to laugh that his messages to the so called “attackers” continually uses the word “Ni**a” yet he reprimands the attorney for doing the same thing when quoting No Jizz Jussie’s many written messages.
Between this mockery of criminal justice and the mostly black people involved in the smash n grab robberies, sadly, when GOP takes over Congress and likely presidency two year later, people of color and other minorities like us are going to have pretty miserable lives.