Osundairo brothers sue Jussie Smollett’s legal team for defamation

The brothers connected with the Jussie Smollett case are suing the actor’s defense team for defamation.

A lawsuit filed by Ola and Abel Osundairo asserts that lawyers Mark Geragos and Tina Glandian falsely accused them of carrying out a hate attack on the “Empire” actor, according to CBS Chicago.

“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,” reads a portion of the lawsuit, according to the news station. “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.”

Smollett is accused of staging the incident by paying the brothers $3,500 to attack him on Jan. 29 because he was unhappy with his salary.

Smollett claimed to police in January that he was attacked by two men who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him and placed a rope around his neck. A police investigation followed, and three weeks later Smollett, 36, was arrested for filing a false police report and accused of orchestrating the attack.

Smollett and his legal team have maintained the actor’s innocence and stood by his story. The “Empire” actor was indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct in March by a grand jury, but the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has since dropped those charges.

Officials with the State’s Attorney’s Office have said the charges being dropped should not be viewed as an exoneration for Smollett.

“The charges were dropped in return for Mr. Smollett’s agreement to do community service and forfeit his $10,000 bond to the City of Chicago," read a statement released by the State’s Attorney’s Office last month. "Without the completion of these terms, the charges would not have been dropped. This outcome was met under the same criteria that would occur for and is available to any defendant with similar circumstances.”

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