I do not trust the police,” Smollett said. Smollett said he was upset police had been called because he would never have done so. Smollett said he removed the noose but a friend who was at his apartment called police and told him to put the noose back on so officers could see it. Smollett said he picked up his phone and told the person he had been talking to that he “got jumped.” He testified that he noticed he had a noose around his neck as he returned to his apartment. Smollett said he assumed the person who attacked him was white because he used a racial slur and shouted “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to then-President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” The brothers, Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo, who are Black, testified last week that Smollett instructed them to yell “this is MAGA country” during the fake assault. Smollett said he saw a second person - who he believes kicked him on his side - as that person ran away. He said he slipped and they tussled on the ground for up to 30 seconds.
But I don’t know if it landed,” Smollett said. Standing up in the Chicago courtroom, Smollett demonstrated how he said the man walked quickly toward him, then pointed to his left temple to show where the man hit him. Smollett said he turned around to confront the person, who he said towered over him. 29, 2019, when someone yelled a racist, homophobic remark. Smollett told jurors he had just returned from a trip and was walking home after buying a sandwich around 2 a.m. He also said “absolutely not” when asked if he gave Osundairo and his brother $100 to pay for supplies for the fake attack. “No,” Smollett said, “there was no hoax.” Asked by his defense attorney if he gave Osundairo payment for some kind of hoax, Smollett replied: “Never.”Īttorney Nenye Uche asked again if he planned a hoax. Smollett appeared calm throughout several hours of testimony, saying he wrote the $3,500 check to Abimbola Osundairo for nutrition and training advice. They also said Smollett gave them a $3,500 check to carry it out. They said Smollett, who is gay and Black, orchestrated the hoax to get publicity, giving them $100 for supplies and instructing them to place a noose around his neck and yell homophobic slurs. Smollett, who faces charges that he lied to Chicago police about the January 2019 attack, sought to refute damaging testimony from two brothers last week.