Jussie Smollett gets testy as he’s grilled on Instagram messages with alleged attacker
CHICAGO — Former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett got combative as he finished testifying Tuesday in his alleged bogus-race-hate case, which was headed for closing arguments and potential jury deliberations Wednesday.
The prosecution finished its cross-examination after grilling the embattled snippy actor on the stand for another two and half hours, following his previous five hours of testimony the day before.
Smollett, 39, lost his cool and got testy when questioned by special prosecutor Dan Webb about some of his private messages on Instagram with Abimbola “Bola” Osundairo, one of the two brothers he allegedly paid to orchestrate the hoax in January 2019.
Prosecutors claim Smollett was alerting Osundairo that the actor’s plane would be late getting into Chicago from New York City so that the siblings could better time out the attack, while the defense says it was simply a case of Smollett letting his workout partner know he’d be tardy for their next session.
Smollett became furious when Webb read aloud one of the actor’s messages that included the N-word and didn’t try to censor it for the court.
“Sir, can you just spell the word or not say it out of respect for every African American in this room?” Smollett demanded.
Webb apologized and let the actor continue to read messages to the jury instead, including one sent at 12:41 a.m. on the day of the attack.
“N—a finally made it just landed haha,” Smollett wrote to Osundairo.
Webb asked of the time, “Was that 20 minutes to one?”
A smirking Smollett leaned forward and corrected him mockingly, replying, “Yes, 19 minutes to one.”
While being cross-examined, Smollett also admitted that he initially said his attackers were white but changed his story later to say they were “pale” because it was the “responsible” thing to do.
Prosecutors have suggested the actor first floated the explosive race angle because he thought it would garner bigger headlines, then backed off as his tale fell apart.
“I didn’t want to make the assumption that they were white. So I said, ‘Let me change that and just say that they were pale-skinned,’ ” Smollett claimed on the stand, adding, “They could’ve been a white person, they could have been a pale someone else.”
Asked whether he called them white so the attack would get more attention, he fired back, “You’d have to ask someone who actually did a fake hate crime.”
Smollett — who wore a dark blue suit, white shirt and black tie — ranged from flippant to hostile with the prosecutor.
Getting hammered over the Instagram messages, the actor seethed, “Mr. Webb, with all due respect, you do not understand Instagram.”
Smollett insisted that the prosecution was incorrectly portraying the conversation by not explaining that he’d also publicly lamented his long-delayed flight in a series of public posts to his Instagram story.
“You’re misrepresenting me to the jury and to the entire court, and it’s not fair,” Smollett said. “Without showing the actual Insta stories that I posted, they’re not getting the full story so they don’t understand.”
Webb shot back, “Look at me. I’m older. I tell you right now I do not understand Instagram. … I’m asking you if the messages I’m about to show you are between Bola and you.”
Cook County Judge James Linn intervened, chiding Smollett, “Just answer his questions without arguing.”
But Smollett doubled down that his messages were not about a “fake attack.
“There was no fake attack. … There was an update to my over 5 million followers,” he said.
At one point later, Webb described a missive from Smollett to Osundairo as “a private message — this is not some blast-out to your 5,000 followers.” Smollett did not correct Webb on the woefully undercounted Instagram following.
Smollett’s lawyers have said the attack was “real,” while prosecutors allege that Smollett paid Abimbola Osundairo and his brother, Olabinjo, $3,500 to “fake beat him up” to get attention on the set of “Empire.”
As the cross-examination continued, Smollett complained about the prosecutor’s line of questioning.
“It’s difficult to answer yes and no when little bits are thrown in there that aren’t true… when some things are true, and some aren’t, it’s hard to say yes or no,” Smollett said.
He claimed that a call he made to Osundairo about an hour and a half before the alleged attack was to reschedule their workout for the next morning, even though the trainer never showed up for the alleged session. When Webb questioned him over why there were no messages about rescheduling the workout, the actor tore into him.
“There’s also no messages about an attack, yet I’m on trial for an attack I didn’t do,” Smollett said.
Smollett’s combative testimony comes after he appeared calm while on the stand Monday as he described his rise to fame and claimed that there was “no hoax.”
The defense announced it had rested its case around noon local time after calling its final witness, a Lyft driver who took the Osundairo brothers toward downtown Chicago on the night of the alleged hate-crime hoax.
The driver testified that one of the brothers appeared to be talking to someone who wasn’t in the car and that the destination was changed after the men got in, indicating they had a cell phone on them.
The brothers had testified for the prosecution that Smollett told them not to bring their phones that night, and the defense was attempting to prove they did in fact have their phones and that perhaps a third person was involved.
Closing arguments from both sides are scheduled for Wednesday, and the judge said the jury can begin deliberating the same day.
Smollett is facing six felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to police, and if convicted, he faces up to three years in jail.
