The two men who found themselves in the centre of the alleged attack on Empire star Jussie Smollett, after reportedly helping to stage the fake homophobic and racist hate crime, have issued an official apology.
The brothers, Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo released the statement through their attorney, Gloria Schmidt explaining that they have “tremendous regret” for how the incident has affected minority communities and victims of hate crimes.
Speaking to CNN Schmidt stated, “My clients have tremendous regret over their involvement in this situation, and they understand how it has impacted people across the nation, particularly minority communities and especially those who have been victims of hate crimes themselves.”
The apology from the brothers follows an ongoing saga, which started when Smollett filed a police report that two men attacked him and shouted homophobic and racial slurs at him in Chicago on January 29.
Following the report being made, Chicago Police soon identified two individuals who were deemed as ‘of interest’ for the case, who were soon identified as the Osundairo brothers, acquaintances of Smollett’s.
After being brought into custody for questioning, the brothers were soon released without charges.
Smollett eventually was charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report and turned himself into police on February 21.
Later that day it was revealed during a press conference that Smollett paid the brothers $3,500 for the attack, allegedly because he was unhappy with his Empire salary.
Smollett continues to maintain his innocence and his lawyers have promised an “aggressive defence,” also claiming that the cheque that Smollett had used to pay the men, was for a fitness plan, not a ‘staged attack’.
