When law enforcement took two men into custody earlier this week, it looked like Jussie Smollett was going to get justice. After they were let go, with investigators citing new evidence in the apparent hate crime against the Empire actor, everyone was left wondering what was going on.
It seemed impossible to believe that the Jussie Smollett attack was staged, but now evidence suggests that could have been what happened. On Saturday, CNN claimed that two law enforcement sources reported that the men taken into custody may have been paid to stage the attack on Smollett.
The brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, were arrested and questioned before law enforcement released them. As Monsters & Critics previously reported, news that Jussie Smollett hired a criminal lawyer came soon after.
Reports that the Osundairo brothers were released after presenting new evidence in the case, coupled with their lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, revealed that they were at the scene of the alleged attack and that they would tell their story “in their own time.”
Smollett previously told law enforcement that he was attacked in the early hours of January 29 when he left his apartment to get food from a local Subway eatery. He claimed that his attackers put a noose around his neck, poured a bleach-like substance on him after calling him
According to the new report from CNN, the investigation turned up records of the two brothers purchasing the rope that was placed around Jussie Smollett’s neck at an Ace Hardware store in Chicago.
At this point, Chicago investigators are looking at Jussie Smollett as an “active participant” in the attack. The investigation continues.