Jussie Smollett Was Reportedly Upset a Racist Letter Sent to His Studio Didn’t Get a Bigger Reaction
“Empire” star Jussie Smollett paid two men to attack him on the streets of Chicago because he was upset that a racist letter sent to his studio didn’t get a “bigger reaction,” according to multiple CBS Chicago sources close to the investigation. The letter apparently contained white powder and had “MAGA” written on the outside of it, along with racial and homophobic slurs.
Chicago police say HAZMAT responded to the letter and determined the white powder to be aspirin. The letter is now in the hands of the FBI.
“When the letter didn’t get enough attention, he concocted the staged attack,” one source told CBS Chicago’s Brad Edwards, as the other sources reportedly corroborated.
Ola and Abel Osundairo, the two Nigerian brothers who were paid $3,500 to stage an attack against Smollett while pretending to be Trump supporters, said they did not have an ideological motive for participating.
“We are not racist. We are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens,” they told CBS’s Charlie De Mar.
The Empire star reportedly paid for the rope that the brothers used to attack him, and rehearsed the attack together with him days before carrying it out, according to the sources. One brother allegedly held the rope and poured bleach as the other wore a Make America Great Again hat and yelled racist and homophobic slurs at Smollett.
The Chicago Police Department refused to corroborate this information in a text message to Edwards, saying no more information can be confirmed until the cops have spoken with Smollett himself. They made the following statement:
We are not doing any interviews or making any official statements until we can corroborate some information that was shared with police. Until we meet with the Empire cast member, we are not able to confirm, deny or comment on any of the information that was released unofficially.
When this investigation is over, we will have a detailed accounting of the case While we are not in a position to confirm, deny or comment on the validity of what’s been unofficially released, there are some developments in this investigation and detectives have some follow-ups to complete which include additional investigation and speaking to the individual who reported the incident.
Smollett’s lawyers say he does not plan to meet with Chicago police, and any communication from here on out will be through his lawyers.
