Key points of actor’s testimony
Here are the biggest takeaways from Jussie Smollett’s testimony:
1. Smollett said he kept the noose around his neck because his creative director told him to do so.
When police arrived at Smollett’s home about an hour after the alleged attack, the actor was captured on bodycam footage still wearing a rope-like noose around his neck and told cops, “I just wanted you to see it.” On Monday, he testified that he had taken the rope off after he returned to his apartment but put it back on after his creative director, Frank Gatson Jr., suggested it.
“Frank told me to put the stuff back on as to not mess with the evidence,” he said.
2. Smollett said he didn’t want to call the police because he doesn’t trust cops and he didn’t want to look weak.
The actor testified “he would’ve never called the police” after the incident because as a “black man in America, I don’t trust police.”
He also said as an ambitious actor, he hesitated over how it could impact his career.
“I want to play a boxer, I want to play a superhero, I want to blow stuff up,” Smollett testified. “The moment I got beat I became a f----t who got his ass whooped.”
3. The actor claims CNN host Don Lemon told him Chicago cops didn’t believe his story.
During his testimony, Smollett said that he received a text from Lemon saying the newsman had gotten a text from Chicago police saying they doubted the actor’s story, which is why Smollett was uneasy about turning over his phone records to investigators.
4. Smollett’s appearance is means a lot to him.
“Is your face important to you?” defense attorney Nenye Uche asked.
“Very important,” Smollett replied. “I’m not a character actor.”
He said he paid Abel Osundairo to help him with training and meal plans after “Empire” creator Lee Daniels told him he was overweight and needed to lose 30 pounds.
He also said Abel told him he could get an illegal herbal supplement that is available in Nigeria, and insisted a text he sent Abel days before the attack to “meet on the low” was for that supplement, not to plan a fake attack.
5. Police said Smollett staged the hoax because he was upset with his salary — and now his salary is clear.
The actor testified that when he was hired on “Empire” in 2014, he was paid roughly $27,000 to $28,000 per episode for a 10episode season. His pay was bumped up modestly at the end of the second season but after the series’ success, he renegotiated his contract and was pulling in $80,000 per episode by the third season, $90,000 by the fourth and $100,000 by the fifth, when he was fired. Each season after the first was 18 episodes long.