Jussie Smollett calls attackers ‘liars,’ defense rests

The defense for former “Empire” actor, Jussie Smollett, rested their case on Tuesday after Smollett testified that the brothers involved in what prosecutors argued was a feigned hate crime were “liars.” 

“They’re liars,” Smollett said of the brothers as he testified on Tuesday, according to NBC News. “They also said I had something to do with it, and I didn’t.”

The prosecution has argued that Smollett staged a “fake hate crime” against himself by hiring two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, to stage a fake attack against him in 2019. 

Specifically, special prosecutor Dan Webb said Smollett instructed the brothers to use racial and homophobic slurs against the actor, who is Black and gay, in addition to telling them to buy ski masks, red hats and “a rope to make it look like a hate crime.”

“It felt like something out of ‘Looney Tunes’ adventures. It felt like someone massive coming up to me. Not enough time to think,” Smollett said of the attack during the trial, per NBC. “This person felt significantly larger than me. Dressed in dark clothes. A ski mask.” 

Smollett also testified that he and one of the brothers, Abimbola Osundairo, did drugs together, went to a bathhouse where they “made out,” and later did sex acts together. But last week, Abimbola Osundairo testified that he did not have a sexual relationship with the actor, NBC reported.

After over a week of witness testimony in Chicago, closing arguments in the trial are set to take place on Wednesday. 

The 39-year-old actor faces charges including six counts of felony disorderly conduct  on suspicion of making false reports to police, but he has pleaded not guilty and could face up to three years in prison if convicted.