Jussie Smollett: Jury selection begins in actor’s trial"Jury selection in the high-profile trial of US TV actor Jussie Smollett begins on Monday, nearly three years after he claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. Mr Smollett, 39, claimed in January 2019 that he was attacked by two men who yelled pro-Donald Trump slogans and tied a noose around his neck. Authorities accused him of staging the attack on himself as a publicity stunt.Authorities allege that Mr Smollett paid two brothers $3,500 (£2,630) to carry out the attack to promote his career because he was "dissatisfied with his salary". Mr Smollett has claimed that the payment was for one of the brothers to work as a personal trainer. The former Empire show actor was indicted by a special prosecutor in Illinois last year on six counts of lying to police."https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59439796Shouldn't take long if the jury have any grasp of reality...Always worth watching Chappelle disassemble the claim if you haven't seen it already
Lucy Smollett should call on Willy Brown's DNA dumpster as a character witness.
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Surely some of these must have walked these comments back..?..? Surely just one of them has a conscience..?Wishful thinking?
It's funny how the same people end of on the wrong side of issues over and over and over again. Too bad the press is in their back pocket and they are almost never held accountable.
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Jussie Smollett’s defense argues prosecution star witness is a disgruntled ex-loverThe two brothers at the center of Jussie Smollett’s criminal trial faced brutal cross-examinations on Thursday as they were painted as homophobic, drug-dealing opportunists who had a history of lying and intended to hurt the actor. Abimbola Osundairo, 28, was grilled for two hours by Smollett’s attorney Shay Allen, who alleged that he and the “Empire” actor had previously dated and had masturbated together at a gay bathhouse and that the attack was fueled by a desire to be the actor’s security guard.The brothers allege that Smollett paid them to dress up like MAGA-loving “Trump supporters” and “fake beat him up” that night, while the defense claims the attack on the gay actor was an actual hate crime fueled by the Osundairos’ homophobia.On Wednesday, Abimbola had told jurors that he and Smollett had gone to the Steamworks bathhouse together in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood, a predominantly gay community, and on Thursday, Allen asked if gay pornography was played on the televisions inside the spa. Multiple Yelp reviews for the bathhouse indicate pornography is played at the spa, which is outfitted with numerous “glory holes” and “hook-up rooms.”“You don’t recall seeing gay pornography? . . . You don’t remember masturbating with him?” Allen asked.Attempting to cast Abimbola as a homophobe, Allen mentioned that homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria, where the brothers have strong ties, and claimed Abimbola had called someone on the set of “Empire” a “f- - - -t.”https://nypost.com/2021/12/02/abimbola-osundairo-and-jussie-smollett-were-dating-prior-to-attack-defense/He's got no chance
Technically shouldn’t any physical assault be considered hate crime?No one is attacking another person because it’s fueled by love.
