Accused of lying to police, Smollett takes the stand

Jussie Smollett took the witness stand Monday at his trial on charges of staging a racist, anti-gay attack on himself and lying to Chicago police about it.

The actor who starred on the TV show “Empire” is expected to share his account of what happened in January 2019 in an attempt to refute damaging testimony from two brothers who testified last week.

They said Smollett, who is gay and Black, orchestrated the hoax to get publicity, giving them $100 for supplies and instructing them to place a noose around his neck and yell homophobic slurs. They also said Smollett paid them $3,500 to carry it out.

Defense attorneys have suggested the brothers, who are Black, were motivated to accuse Smollett of staging the hoax because they disliked him and then saw an opportunity to make money.

They suggested that after the brothers, Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo, were questioned by police