Jussie Smollett Was Reportedly Upset a Racist Letter Sent to His Studio Didn’t Get a Bigger Reaction
“Empire” star
Jussie Smollett paid two men to attack him on the streets of Chicago because he was upset that a racist letter sent to his studio didn’t get a “bigger reaction,”
according to multiple CBS Chicago sources close to the investigation. The letter apparently contained white powder and had “MAGA” written on the outside of it, along with racial and homophobic slurs.
Chicago police say HAZMAT responded to the letter and determined the white powder to be aspirin. The letter is now in the hands of the FBI.
“When the letter didn’t get enough attention, he concocted the staged attack,” one source told CBS Chicago’s
Brad Edwards, as the other sources reportedly corroborated.
Ola and
Abel Osundairo, the two Nigerian brothers who were paid $3,500 to stage an attack against Smollett while pretending to be Trump supporters, said they did not have an ideological motive for participating.
“We are not racist. We are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens,” they told CBS’s
Charlie De Mar.
The Empire star reportedly paid for the rope that the brothers used to attack him, and rehearsed the attack together with him days before carrying it out, according to the sources. One brother allegedly held the rope and poured bleach as the other wore a Make America Great Again hat and yelled racist and homophobic slurs at Smollett.