As the trial of Jussie Smollett progresses, we now know that the actor was in regular contact with one of the brothers who allegedly assisted him in staging his attack hours before he reported it.
On Tuesday, Instagram messages were presented in court between Smollett and Abimbola Osundairo. The two wrote back and forth while Smollett waited to board his flight from New York to Chicago. Prosecutors suspect the former “Empire” star sent the DMs to assist Abimbola and his brother, Olabinjo, in coordinating a time for the fictitious mugging.
Smollett wrote to Abimbola on January 28th, 2019, at 7:27 p.m., letting him know that the plane was delayed and he was “still on this damn runway. Minutes later, Smollett told his co-conspirator that he believed the plane would leave in an hour. A little after 10 p.m., the star informed Abimbola that the aircraft had finally taken off. In his final message, sent at 12:41 a.m. on January 29th, Smollett let Abimbola know that he was back in Chicago. The alleged staged beating took place about 90 minutes later.
Smollett slammed the prosecution’s misinterpretations of the messages. He claims that he spoke with Abimbola because the two had a workout planned that night. He also stated that he shared his flight delay with his Instagram followers as well. During his testimony, Smollett also claimed a phone call between him and Abimbola at 12:49 a.m. on January 29th was only to reschedule their workout session for the following morning. He says that the trainer gave him instructions for his nutrition plan before hanging up.
These new revelations come after Smollett took the stand on Monday and claimed he had a drug-fueled sexual night with Abimbola at Steamworks, a Chicago bathhouse.
However, Abimbola tells a very different story. He has denied having sexual relations with Smollett. Last week, he testified that the 39-year-old told him and his brother to keep up with his IG Story for updates. He maintains that they were paid $3,500 to help Smollett carry out the fake MAGA beating.
Jussie Smollett maintains that the attack was real.
