Updated: April 23, 2019 / 2:01 PM
The two brothers that were involved in the alleged hate-crime attack against Jussie Smollett are taking legal action to sue the actor’s lawyers on Tuesday, accusing them of defamation for claiming they had “criminally attacked” the actor even after authorities concluded otherwise.
A lawsuit was filed in Chicago’s federal court in which the Osundairo brothers charged that Smollett’s attorneys, both Mark Geragos and Tina Glandian, for falsely accusing them of physically attacking Smollett, even after the investigation was over.
The lawsuit filed stated: “He wanted his employer and the public to notice and appreciate him as a successful black, openly gay actor,” it continued, “Smollett directed every aspect of the attack, including the location and the noose.”
Smollett’s attorneys, Geragos and Glandian, called the lawsuit against them “comical” and a “desperate attempt for them to stay relevant and further profit from an attack they admit they perpetrated.”
The lawyers feel confident that the courts will dismiss the lawsuit.
Smollett has mentioned that he had always been truthful about the incident that took place, this struck significant outrage on social media, in which it drew the attention of both President Donald Trump and some of the Democrats who hope to challenge him in 2020.
“They’ve realized that it was wrong. They’ve apologized for it,” Gloria Schmidt, one of the brothers’ lawyers, told reporters on Tuesday. “But make no mistake: they had no role in calling the police, and they had no role in defrauding the police department.”
