that the brothers attacked the actor because they are homophobic and that they made up the story about the attack being staged but said they wouldn’t testify against Smollett if he paid them each $1 million.Smollett said he was returning home around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2019, when someone yelled a racist, homophobic remark that referenced the TV show “Empire.” The person also shouted something about “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to then-President’s slogan “Make America Great Again.
Uche told the jury that one of the brothers, Olabingo Osundairo, posted homophobic slurs on social media. He also recalled that Abimbola Osundairo testified he went to a bathhouse with Smollett but denied any sexual relationship. Smollett later testified that the men performed sex acts together at the bathhouse. Uche suggested Olabingo’s homophobia and Abimbola’s “self-hatred” were motives for their attack.
Webb said Smollett lied when he testified that he picked up the Osundairo brothers a few days before the alleged attack so they could work out, rather than to do a “dry run” of the fake attack, as the brothers told jurors last week. In surveillance video, the men are seen driving around Smollett’s apartment building three times, but Smollett never parked his car to go to the gym.
Uche told jurors that Smollett often drove around smoking marijuana and making music, and he questioned why prosecutors didn’t obtain surveillance video of him doing so.Webb also referenced surveillance video that shows the Osundairo brothers walking around the area the night of the alleged attack. Webb questioned how the brothers — who didn’t live nearby — would know to be in the area around 2 a.m. during freezing cold weather for the fake attack.
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