Flanked by family members, supporters, attorneys and bodyguards, former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett walks into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Monday. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Smollett’s testimony would seem essential to proving the defense theory of the case as the actor stands trial on a second indictment brought by a special grand jury following a year-long investigation of the attack and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office.
Jussie Smollett took the witness stand Monday, hoping to convince a jury that he was an innocent victim of a hate crime attack and not the mastermind of a hoax.
The former “Empire” actor began to testify a little after noon, and early questioning by defense attorney Nenye Uche focused on Smollett’s childhood and family background. He said he wasn’t always close to his father until later in life, but he called his mother “my favorite human in the world.”
Smollett also talked about being a “working child actor,” doing commercials in New York, moving to Los Angeles and landing a role in “The Mighty Ducks.”
“I played a Duck,” Smollett said.
Later, Smollett talked about his time on “Empire,” where he said he was paid around $28,000 per episode for the first, 10-episode season. By season three, he said he negotiated a raise to $80,000 per episode with a $10,000 increase per season. By the time he was fired, he said he was making $100,000 an episode.
Still, he said he was told, “You have to be for gay Black men what Phylicia Rashad was for Black women on ‘The Cosby Show.'”
During Smollett’s highly anticipated testimony, additional reporters and observers were allowed to gather around the open courtroom doors to try to watch and listen. Smollett’s testimony was hard to hear from the hallway though, and some people leaned an ear toward the courtroom to catch what they could.
Smollett’s time on the stand will mark his first extensive public remarks on the case against him since the former “Empire” actor read a statement as he left the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in March 2019. That followed a hearing at which the Cook County state’s attorney dropped all charges just weeks after he was indicted.
Some three years ago, Smollett proclaimed his innocence to a throng of reporters, saying, “I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. … I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I’d been accused of.”
Smollett’s testimony would seem essential to proving the defense theory of the case as the actor stands trial on a second indictment brought by a special grand jury after a yearlong investigation of the attack and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office.
Smollett’s lawyers have cast the actor as an unwitting victim, betrayed by his onetime friend-turned-star prosecution witness Abimbola Osundairo and Osundairo’s older brother, Olabinjo.
The brothers testified that Smollett hired them to beat him up in view of a surveillance camera, even scripting homophobic and racist slurs he wanted them to yell, with the intention of putting the video on social media as a publicity stunt.
After a “rehearsal” a few days before the attack, Smollett gave Abimbola Osundairo, who had worked as his personal trainer, a $3,500 check which the brothers said was payment for participating in the hoax. Smollett’s lawyers have said the actor was paying for training services and illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
Smollett is also expected to testify that Abimbola Osundairo requested a seven-figure payoff — either $1 million or $2 million, according to Smollett’s lawyers — to publicly admit Smollett was not involved in the hoax or to refuse to testify against the actor.
Smollett’s lawyers have also said that Abimbola Osundairo suggested Smollett hire him as a bodyguard after the actor received a threatening letter after learning the “Empire” studio wanted him to take on security.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Former federal prosecutor Dan Webb, who was appointed special prosecutor in the Jussie Smollett case, walks into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Monday.
Smollett has told his story before, if not under oath. Not long before he was indicted, the actor gave a lengthy interview to ABC reporter Robin Roberts that aired on “Good Morning America.” Smollett recalled struggling with two men as he walked home from a 24-hour sandwich shop.
At times tearful and often indignant, Smollett then said he was “pissed off” by the large contingent who doubted his story in the weeks since he’d come forward — a group his lawyers have implied included Chicago police investigators working to find his attackers.
Smollett will have to explain a text he sent to Abimbola Osundairo shortly after learning from police that the brothers had been identified as his attackers, expressing support to a friend who had apparently beaten him up, put a noose over his head and doused him with bleach.
“I know 1000%. You and your brother did nothing wrong… I am making this statement so everyone else knows … Please hit me when they let you go. I am behind you fully,” the text said.
Under questioning from Smollett’s lawyers, who have tried to cast the Osundairos as homophobes who were using their connection to the openly gay star to advance their acting careers, Abimbola Osundairo admitted going to a gay bathhouse on several occasions.
Smollett is likely to be asked about whether his relationship with the younger man was more than a friendship as his lawyers cross-examined Abimbola about whether he was aware Smollett had a crush on him.
Testimony has spanned five days so far, an exceptionally long trial for a defendant facing only low-level felonies. If he is found guilty, the actor would be eligible for a sentence of probation or one to three years behind bars.
