Didn’t ‘check’ out
Chicago cop: $3,500 to brothers taints Jussie story
“Empire” star Jussie Smollett’s claim that he was the victim of a hate crime fell further under suspicion Monday with the emergence of a $3,500 check and text messages he allegedly sent to the brothers who say they helped stage the attack.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday to make his case that the 36-year-old actor schemed to have brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo attack him as a publicity stunt to drive up Smollett’s value as an actor.
ABC released an image showing a copy of a check Smollett paid to Abimbola nearly a week before the alleged assault.
Smollett has denied orchestrating the attack and insists he was a victim of a crime.
Text messages between Smollett and the body building brothers, one of whom appeared as an extra on “Empire,” detail a dietary regimen the Osundairo brothers were preparing for Smollett. Smollett was training to go shirtless for an upcoming music video, according to ABC, which cites sources saying that was why he was paying the Osuandairos.
“There’s a lot more evidence that hasn’t been presented yet, and does not support the version he gave,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said. “There’s still a lot of physical evidence, video evidence and testimony that just simply does not support his version of what happened.”
Smollett claims he was attacked on the morning of Jan. 29 by two men who addressed him using racist and homophobic slurs, and that one of them put a noose around his neck.
Smollett’s lawyers issued a statement last week saying their client was “angered and devastated” to learn his masked attackers were people he knew, and insisted the actor played no role in the alleged assault.
Johnson said Smollett was treated like a victim until his investigators concluded “the evidence, the facts, and the witnesses” lead them to conclude Smollett coordinated his own attack. Still, he urges the public to keep an open mind.
“Right now, he still has the presumption of innocence until he has his day in court,” Johnson said.