Actor testifies he paid for nutrition advice, not hoax

CHICAGO » Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett testified at his trial Monday that he wrote a $3,500 check to a friend for nutrition and training advice, not as payment for the man and his brother to help him stage a racist, anti-gay attack on himself.

Smollett took the stand at his trial on charges he lied to Chicago police about the attack in an attempt to refute damaging testimony from the brothers last week. They said Smollett, who is gay and Black, orchestrated the January 2019 hoax to get publicity, giving them $100 for supplies and instructing them to place a noose around his neck and yell homophobic slurs. They also said Smollett gave them the $3,500 check to carry it out.

But Smollett said the check was for a meal and workout plan while he was going to be out of town.

Smollett also testified that his friend, Abimbola Osundairo, told him about an herbal steroid that encourages weight loss but is illegal in the U.S. He said Osundairo told the actor he could get him some secretly while he was on an upcoming trip to Nigeria. Osundairo testified that Smollett sent him a text message, which the jury saw last week, about talking secretly, and that during the conversation Smollett asked him about helping to stage the attack, to get publicity.

Defense attorneys have suggested the brothers, who are Black, were motivated to accuse Smollett of staging the hoax because they disliked him, then saw an opportunity to make money. They suggested that after the brothers, Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo, were questioned by police about the alleged attack, they asked Smollett for $1 million each to not testify against him at trial.

Smollett’s lawyers have argued that Chicago police rushed to judgment when they brought charges against Smollett, and suggested a third person may have been involved in the attack.

On the witness stand Monday, Smollett told the jury how he grew up in a closeknit family of six children, and started performing as a child actor before getting more into music. He said he “came to terms with my sexuality” in his early 20s, when he got involved in charity organizations, including a group that fights AIDS in the Black community.

He said he wanted the role on “Empire” of a singer who is gay because he had never seen a Black man portrayed that way. By season five, Smollett said he was being paid $100,000 per episode.

Smollett said he met Abimbola Osundairo in 2017 at a club, where he learned Osundairo also worked on the set of “Empire.” He said the two men did drugs together and went to a bathhouse, where Smollett said they “made out.” Over time, he said the two men did more drugs together and participated in sex acts together. Osundairo testified last week that he and Smollett didn’t have a sexual relationship.

Smollett testified that he met Abimbola’s brother, Olabingo, but that they didn’t speak and “he kind of freaked me out.” He said Abimbola Osundairo made it seem like the men needed to “sneak off” when they were together around his brother.