Hoax like film plot

Actor hired pair to stage a racist, anti-gay attack on himself

AS authorities laid out their case against Empire actor Jussie Smollett, the narrative that emerged Thursday sounded like that of a filmmaker who wrote, cast, directed and starred in a short movie.

Prosecutors said Smollett gave detailed instructions to the accomplices who helped him stage a racist, anti-gay attack on himself, including telling them specific slurs to yell, urging them to shout “MAGA country” and even pointing out a surveillance camera that he thought would record the beating. “I believe Mr Smollett wanted it on camera,” Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters. “But unfortunately that particular camera wasn’t pointed in that direction.”

Police said Smollett planned the hoax because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted to promote his career. Before the attack, he also sent a letter that threatened him to the Chicago studio where Em

pire is shot, police said. Smollett, who is black and gay, turned himself in on charges that he filed a false police report last month when he said he was attacked in downtown Chicago by two masked men who hurled derogatory re- marks and looped a rope around his neck.

Superintendent Johnson said the actor “took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career”.

“This publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn’t earn and certainly didn’t deserve,” he added.

The attack swiftly took on political overtones, with liberals calling it a shocking exam- ple of Trump-era hate. Smollett hired the brothers, Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, to buy masks and a rope – transactions recorded on surveillance video.

As for the alleged attack, the actor instructed Abel Osundairo to “not hurt him too badly and give him a chance to appear to fight back,” according to the filing.