In the 47th hour of that detention, in a small, fluorescently lit room painted a bland white, the brothers began to confess: It was all a hoax.
“He came up with this plan as we pretend to attack him, um, at his house,” Abimbola Osundairo told police.
Newly obtained video from the night of February 15, 2019 shows the Osundairo brothers telling police for the first time that Smollett ordered them to carry out a fake hate crime attack weeks earlier. The video even shows the brothers re-enacting parts of the attack with cops playing along with the re-enactment.
However, the court case was not broadcast on video for the public, so the 2019 confession video marks the first time the general public has been able to see and hear the brothers’ version of events.
CNN+ has received the video for its new documentary, Chicago vs. Jussie Smollett, available now exclusively on CNN+.
The hour-long documentary traces the tortuous history of the case and examines Chicago’s broader criminal justice system.
Smollett, who is black and gay, told police in January 2019 that he was attacked by two mysterious figures outside his Chicago home in the middle of the night. The two men used racial and homophobic slurs, poured bleach over him and put a noose around his neck, he told authorities. the dismissal of these charges by a social justice prosecutor; the appointment of a special prosecutor and a second indictment; and Smollett’s Trial, Conviction and Conviction. Smollett was sentenced in March to five months in prison, 30 months probation, a $25,000 fine and over $120,000 in restitution to the City of Chicago. He was released from custody pending an appeal against his conviction.
To tell the story, the documentary includes interviews with former Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson, Special Prosecutor Dan Webb, Cook County Prosecutor Kim Foxx, two of Smollett’s brothers and members of his legal team. Smollett did not make himself available for an interview.
What the confession video shows
In the 2019 confession video, the Osundairo brothers, who worked with Smollett on the set of “Empire,” explain that Smollett told them to pull off the hoax and planned it in advance. Abimbola Osundairo even shows the detective how he faked Smollett and repeats his lines from that night.
“Am I running away from you or towards you?” asks the detective.
“You’re running away from me,” says Abimbola Osundairo.
“Okay, so let’s start there. I’m going away, and then?’ says the detective.
“I say, ‘Yo, aren’t you the damn empire?’ ‘ replies Abimbola Osundairo.
Elsewhere, a detective is lying on the ground and Abimbola Osundairo reenacts how he vigorously rubbed his knuckles in Smollett’s face in order to injure him.
The brothers expressed differing views on Smollett’s motivation for the incident, as the video shows. Abimbola Osundairo said he didn’t know exactly why Smollett got the scam.
“If I say something, it will be an opinion. It won’t be based on anything he said. So I would think it serves to make people feel more about him,” he said.
But Olabinjo Osundairo said he knew Smollett’s motivations. He said Smollett had received hate mail in recent weeks that the actor believed was ignored.
“He may not remember, but I’ll tell you guys,” Olabinjo Osundairo said in the video. “[Smollett]said his network didn’t take the hate mail seriously, and that’s why he wanted to do it. Because they wanted it to be taken seriously. I remember that vividly.”
The brothers, who worked as fitness instructors, also told police that Smollett wrote them a check for $3,500. They said they believed the check was in exchange for a meal and exercise plan ahead of Smollett’s appearance in a music video, as well as the prank attack.
“The way it sounded made it seem like it could be for either/or — for the video and for it,” said Abimbola Osundairo.
“I appreciate your openness and honesty, I really do,” a detective told Olabinjo Osundairo.
In court, Smollett denied under oath that he orchestrated a hoax and testified that he was in fact a victim of hate crimes. He and his lawyers tried to cast doubt on the brothers’ motives and their story, but a jury voted unanimously to convict him.
Former police superintendent says Smollett shouldn’t face jail time
The documentary also features the perspectives of Johnson, the former police commissioner, and Foxx, the Cook County prosecutor.
Johnson was highly critical of Smollett in a press conference announcing the charges against him in February 2019. At the time, he said Smollett “exploited the pain and anger of racism to further his career.”
Despite those harsh words, Johnson told CNN in the documentary that he didn’t think Smollett should be spending time behind bars.
“From the start, I never thought he would serve a prison sentence. You just have to be held accountable for it,” he said.
Johnson was fired from his leadership role in December 2019 by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who said he lied about an incident in which he was found sleeping in his car after having a drink with dinner. Foxx withdrew from the case in February 2019. Her office dropped all charges against Smollett this month after the actor agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bail and do community service, noting he had no prior crimes and was not a danger to the community represented. However, Special Prosecutor Webb was appointed to re-examine the case and determine whether Foxx’s office acted appropriately. Webb found that prosecutors and Foxx committed “substantial abuses” in handling the case, but investigators found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
In the documentary, Foxx defended her decisions and progressive policies. She also questioned whether jail time in Smollett’s case was appropriate.
“The question is, was that justice and accountability? Or was that a revenge for not apologizing for what he did to the city?” Foxx said.