Chicago, IL – Former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett scolded the special prosecutor questioning him from the stand on Tuesday for reading aloud the N-word used in messages between the actor and one of the brothers he allegedly paid to attack him.
Special Prosecutor Dan Webb cross-examined Smollett and upset the actor on Dec. 7, MEAWW reported.
During the questioning, Webb read aloud some Instagram messages that were exchanged by Smollett and Abel Osundairo, one of his allege accomplices, the night he claimed he was attacked.
The N-word was used frequently in the conversation between Abel Osundairo and Smollett, and the actor took exception to Webb speaking it out loud, MEAWW reported.
Smollett interrupted Webb and told the prosecutor to spell or abbreviate the word so as not to offend “every African American person in the room,” FOX News reported.
Smollett interrupts special prosecutor Dan Webb as Webb was reading aloud one of Smollett's messages that had N word in it.
Smollett: can you spell or say the N word out of respect for every African American in this room? you've been saying that word a lot.— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) December 7, 2021
Webb apologized but refused to censor the quotations in Smollett’s messages.
Instead, he told Smollett he was welcome to read his own messages aloud to the court.
So Smollett read the messages exchanged between him and Abel Osundairo the night of the allegedly faked attack, FOX News reported.
“N—a finally made it just landed haha,” Smollett read the message from the Osundairo brother.
Smollett is facing six felony disorderly conduct charges for orchestrating the attack he claimed had been perpetrated by two white supporters of President Donald Trump as the actor was walking home from a Subway restaurant on Jan. 29, 2019.
He claimed the men called him homophobic and anti-black slurs and told him “This is MAGA country” as they beat him up and put a noose around his neck. He also said they threw a chemical on him.
Police believed that Smollett was a victim until the men who helped him perpetrate the hoax – brothers Ola and Abel Osundairo – returned from Nigeria and were taken into police custody.
The Osundairos told police that Smollett paid them $3,500 to stage the attack, with another $500 after they returned from a planned trip to Nigeria.
Police said they had the check that Smollett used to pay the brothers.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office announced a grand jury had indicted Smollett on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct in connection with the hoax attack on March 8, 2019.
But then on March 26, 2019, the State’s Attorney’s Office unceremoniously announced all charges against the “Empire” actor had been dropped.
The city of Chicago has since sued Smollett for the cost of the overtime the police department incurred while investigating the hoax and the actor has counter-sued for malicious prosecution.
But despite that legal wrangling over dollars and cents, Smollett was not yet in the clear on the criminal charges he initially faced.
Cook County Judge Michael Toomin in June of 2019 appointed a special counsel to investigate what actually happened after information about Smollett hiding evidence and the involvement of Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff, Tina Tchen, in the case became public.
Toomin gave the special prosecutor a broad mandate to investigate what had happened with the case from beginning to end and what all parties involved had done.
Webb indicted Smollett on new charges on Feb. 11, 2020.
In March of 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court also denied Smollett’s attorneys’ request to stop criminal proceedings against the actor.
Smollett’s attorneys asked the state’s highest court to issue a stay in the criminal case, dismiss the indictment against the actor, and vacate the prior court order that established attorney Dan Webb as the special prosecutor in the case using the same double-jeopardy argument, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Smollett’s attorneys have repeatedly asserted that Smollett is being subjected to double-jeopardy since he already forfeited a $10,000 fine and did community service in exchange for a prior dismissal of the charges.
“A deal is a deal. That’s ancient principle,” Smollett’s attorney, Nenye Uche, said in court on Oct. 15.
The Illinois Supreme Court justices declined all three of Smollett’s attorneys’ requests without offering any explanations, FOX News reported.
The actor’s attorneys had already asked Linn to delay Smollett’s arraignment for the same reasons.
The judge denied the request for the second time on Oct. 15 dashing any last hopes that Smollett’s case wouldn’t proceed to trial.
The state’s highest court also declined to dismiss the special prosecutor appointed to investigate the handling of Smollett’s case by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
The disorderly conduct charges that Smollett is facing carry a sentence of up to four years if the actor is convicted, FOX News reported.
Legal experts have said they expect the judge would sentence the actor to probation or community service rather than prison time.
Closing arguments began on Wednesday morning and the case was expected to be handed to the jury for deliberations before the end of the day.
Holly Matkin
