The brothers who say that Empire actor Jussie Smollett paid them to stage a racist and homophobic against on him will not testify against Smollett, according to reports. But wait! Now they will.
Abel and Ola Osundario, as many will recall, told police that Smollett paid them $3,500 to beat him up in 2019; it was part of an attempt to raise his public profile. They were reportedly cooperating with police and set to testify, but then police refused to return evidence they seized in February of 2019 during their investigation. One of the seized items is a legally owned 9 mm gun and ammo.
Abel told CBS: “It’s been over a year and they need to give us our stuff back. I would understand if we were defendants in the case, which we are not.”
A new indictment was filed against Smollett this February, after Cook County prosecutors dropped their original case against him in March of 2019, and dismissed 16 counts of disorderly conduct. The new charges include six counts of disorderly conduct, including filing false police reports.
But after their initial statement, they changed their minds. “Yesterday's decision to voluntarily stop cooperating in the prosecution of Jussie Smollett has nothing to do with the veracity of the statements made to police and prosecutors by Abimnola ('Abel') and Olabinjo ('Ola') Osundairo,” their attorney Gloria Schmidt Rodriguez told Fox News on Thursday. “The brothers have consistently stood by their statements and testimony and continue to tell the truth about their involvement.”