Abimbola Osundairo admitted to helping Jussie Smollett with orchestrating the alleged fraudulent attack as he took the witness stand on day three of the trial.
During day two of the Smollett trial, a pivotal text between Smollet and Abimbola had surfaced for the first time. According to Abimbola, the two brothers had planned to leave for Nigeria after the text message had been sent. (RELATED: Jussie Smollett’s Lawyer Claims He Was A ‘Real Victim’ Of Racial Attack)
In his testimony Wednesday, Abimbola explained how he had allegedly met up with Smollett at Cinespace Studios. Abimbola and Smollett then went for a drive while Smollett allegedly expressed disapproval for the way the studio had handled the offensive letter he’d received. “Then he proceeded to tell me he wanted me to beat him up,” Abimbola testified.
“I was confused, I looked puzzled, and then he explained that he wanted me to fake beat him up,” Abimbola claimed. “He told me that we would need another person to fake beat him up and he mentioned could my brother do it? I said yes.”
“I was confused, I looked puzzled, and then he explained that he wanted me to fake beat him up,” Abimbola continued. “He told me that we would need another person to fake beat him up and he mentioned could my brother do it? I said yes.”
— Megan Crepeau (@crepeau) December 1, 2021
Abimbola expressed how he felt an obligation to help Smollett because of his role in helping him land a role on “Empire” and that he could help Abimbola progress in his acting career.
Smollett and Abimbola then proceeded to drive to the Osundairo brothers’ apartment to pick up Olabinjo. After explaining the plan, both brothers began contributing ideas and helped Smollett refine the attack, according to the testimony. They allegedly decided a day to conduct a “dry run” on Jan. 27, the night before the actual assault.
They set up a “dry run” for Jan. 27 and scheduled the fake attack for the night of Jan. 28, Abimbola testifies. Smollett told them to refer to the dry run as “training” in text messages, and gave them a $100 bill to buy supplies, he says.
— Megan Crepeau (@crepeau) December 1, 2021
“I was supposed to punch him but not too hard, then tussle,” Abimbola testified. “He wanted it to look like he was fighting back so I was supposed to give him a chance to fight back,” he continued, explaining how Smollett was allegedly worried about Olabinjo throwing punches because he didn’t trust his ability to pull punches.
“He wanted me to punch him but he wanted me to pull the punch so I don’t hurt him … my brother Ola would tie the noose around his neck and pour bleach on him,” testified Abimbola, claiming that Smollett had specifically asked them to shout various slurs, as well as the words “Empire” and “MAGA” during the attack.
According to testimony, Smollett had initially wanted the brothers to pour gas on him, which was eventually changed to bleach. Abimbola testified that Smollet was adamant about using a camera to record the fraudulent attack and had said during their dry run the prior day while pointing at the camera “for media.”
Smollett has been charged with six counts of disorderly conduct for making a fraudulent report to Chicago police. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.