The Jussie Smollett trial has started its second week in Chicago, and the “Empire” star took the stand in his defense.
According to TMZ, Smollett shared with the court intimate details about his life, including what it was like growing up in his family, how much money he was making as a lead actor on the hit Fox show, and that he and one of the men involved in his scandal was his bed partner.
Jussie Smollett talked about growing up in an entertainment family. As one of six children, he noted that he started performing as a kid.
He then testified about auditioning for “Empire” for the role of Jamal. On the stand, he allegedly started out making between $25K to $35K per episode during the first season. By the fifth season, he made $100K per episode, the Huffington Post revealed.
But the real juice of his testimony was when he described his relationship with one of the Osundairo brothers, Abimbola (aka Abel). He said that they were lovers.
Jussie testified to meeting him in 2017 in a gay club. That night the two went to a bathhouse and did cocaine and marijuana as they performed sex acts on each other.
This directly conflicted with Osundairo’s testimony that claimed they had never had a sexual encounter. During their time on the stand, the brothers further stated that Smollett planned the entire attack for publicity.
Jussie Smollett claimed he never trusted Ola, the other brother, calling him homophobic.
They spent a substantial time explaining why they were not anti-gay during their testimony, citing the times they participated in the Pride parades in their city.
The brothers believe that this was a distraction put out to the world by Smollett because he asked them to attack him on that night.
The 39-year-old has been charged with six counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly making a false police report. He has pled not guilty to them all.