'Arrogant' Jussie Smollett SCOLDS White prosecutor for repeating N-word in his texts
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Actor Jussie Smollett returned to the stand for a second time to be questioned amid his ongoing trial for faking a hate crime. This time, he admitted to changing the description of his attackers during cross-examination, saying that he initially described them as 'White' but later changed it to 'pale'. While Smollett appeared increasingly defensive in the face of the prosecutor's questioning, he even scolded the White prosecutor for repeatedly reading out the N-word in his texts.
On Tuesday morning, December 7, Jussie Smollett took the stand and faced special prosecutor Dan Webb. He appeared increasingly restless and exasperated and refused to answer only 'Yes' or 'No' questions. Smollett also insisted that he has permanent scars on his face from the alleged attack on January 29, 2019. During the course of the questioning, prosecutor Dan Webb read out aloud parts of the conversation between Smollett and his alleged accomplice Abel Osundairo, where he used the N-word quite often. Smollett went on to instruct Webb to not say the N-word as a white person, out of respect for "every African American person in the room."
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Speaking about changing his attackers' description from 'White' to 'pale', Jussie Smollett noted, "I didn’t want to make the assumption that they were white. So I said let me change that and just say that they were pale-skinned. They could’ve been a white person, they could have been a pale someone else."
He also quipped back at the prosecutor when asked if he had originally claimed the attackers to be white for gaining more attention. "You'd have to ask someone who actually did a fake hate crime." Webb continued to question Smollett about the various discrepancies in his alleged attack. He also read out parts of private Instagram messages that Smollett sent to Nigerian Abel Osundairo just hours before the attack.
The prosecutor argued that in his messages, Smollett appeared to have indicated that his flight delay from New York to Chicago might affect their plan. "[N-word] this is brutal. Still on this damn runway," he had texted, adding later, "[N-word] finally made it."
While reading out the texts, Webb was interrupted midway by Smollett and instructed to not read the 'N-Word'. Webb apologized for the same but Smollett reverted, "Apology accepted but it's been used a lot."
Meanwhile, Smollett continued to maintain his innocence denied hatching a plan with Nigerian brother duo Abel and Ola Osundairo for a staged attack. He shockingly admitted to being in a sexual relationship with one of the brothers, with whom he 'made out' and 'masturbated' during a visit to a bathhouse. However, he called them liars and accused them of framing him falsely. "I just don’t know. They’re liars, so.. they also said I had something to do with it and that’s not true," he said in court. Furthermore, Smollett claimed that he got together with the brothers in days prior to the attack simply to smoke marijuana and not to 'rehearse the attack' as the prosecutor claimed.