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Jussie Smollett rehearsed the "attack" against him days before the incident and it was all staged for the camera, this according to what the 2 brothers told cops.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Abel and Ola Osundairo told cops they got in a car with Jussie and scouted a location, settling on the one right outside the actor's apartment. The brothers said Jussie chose the spot because he believed a camera would have captured the action.
Our sources say the brothers told police Jussie said he wanted to make it a "physical thing," but not to the point he'd be seriously injured.
On the night Jussie says he was attacked, the brothers claim they showed up at the scene but were extremely nervous because, just as they played out the scene, a car drove by and they were worried they'd be ID'd.
Our sources say the brothers performed per the rehearsal -- they screamed out they recognized Jussie from "Empire" and then hurled the racist n-word and the homophobic f-word.
The brothers told cops they "made contact with Jussie's face" but it was "weak." They said they didn't know how he suffered the bruises but the staged fight was not designed to injure him.
TMZ broke the story ... when cops arrived, Jussie took them down to the area he said the "attack" went down and pointed to the camera, saying it was good the incident was captured on video. What he didn't know was that the camera was pointed in the wrong direction and didn't capture the incident.
N/H @ Boosie...
fixedIf he really did stage it dude is a fuckin idiot lmao
Talk about attention gaying
Jussie Smollett's "Empire" screen time is getting slashed in the wake of a growing sentiment that he staged the so-called "attack."
Production sources tell TMZ ... Jussie was supposed to have 9 scenes and a big musical number in the second to the last episode -- which is being shot now -- but, 5 of his scenes have been cut, and his musical number has been 86'd.
As for the remaining 4 scenes ... we're told he's no longer the focus. The scene features an ensemble, meaning he's flanked by a number of cast members.
With his duties pared down, Jussie will be spending way less time on set. Instead of working every day this week, we're told Jussie's working Friday and possibly Thursday, and he won't be rehearsing.
Less work for Jussie means more work for writers, who are busy making edits. In the past 24 hours, we're told the script has undergone multiple revisions.
We broke the story ... Jussie's case is heading to a Grand Jury as early as Tuesday. Our law enforcement sources say the focus is presenting evidence that could lead to a felony indictment against Jussie for allegedly filing a false police report.