Brothers Ola and Abel Osundairo have filed a federal lawsuit against Jussie Smollett's attorneys Mark Geragos, Tina Glandian and the Geragos & Geragos law firm, saying the lawyers defamed them.
The brothers told police they were paid by Smollett to stage the hate crime against the Empire actor. Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct on March 6 for falsifying reports that he was the victim of a hate crime. Those charges were abruptly dropped on March 26 and the case sealed with no new evidence that materially changed the facts presented in the case.
Said the Osundairo's lawyer Gloria Schmidt: “Attorneys Mark Geragos and Tina Glandian, through their continued false statements and hateful rhetoric, have only deepened the damage that was cause by the very first out of 16 counts of lies that were told to the police that started this whole situation.”
Schmidt added: “As far as their participation in this publicity stunt, they've realized that it was wrong, they've apologized for it, and they've expressed more than once that they are tremendously regretful for the role that they played in it. But make no mistake, they had no role in calling the police, and they had no role in defrauding the Police Department.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reports: ‘The Osundairo brothers contend in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett paid them “a sum of money to stage the attack [against Smollett] to benefit himself” and “directed every aspect of the attack, including the location and the noose.”'
Reads the lawsuit: “Defendants made these comments knowing they were untrue to distract from Mr. Smollett's farce and to promote themselves and the Geragos & Geragos Law Firm. Statements indicating Plaintiffs actually criminally battered Mr. Smollett without his consent are patently false and defamatory, as Mr. Smollett originated, planned, and orchestrated the attack.”
Press conference begins at 7:13.
