Jussie Smollett’s lawyers are fighting for their client’s career by claiming that their client is not a hate hoaxer and is now blaming the two brothers.
They were originally suspected of the attack, but after questioning them, the police released them, saying that information they gave up convinced them to take the investigation along a new path, where Smollett goes from victim to co conspirator. He is believed to have paid the brothers $3,500 dollars to fake the attack, with a promise of $500 more when they got back from Nigeria.
He is alleged to have given the brothers money for the rope and red hats used in the crime.
Here is the latest statement from the attorneys that Jussie Smollett has retained: pic.twitter.com/E6L8KytPgy
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The statement comes following reports that two Chicago Police Department (CPD) sources believed Smollett paid the suspects to help him plan his own attack, according to CNN. The sources said records showed the two brothers purchased the rope found on Smollett’s neck at a Chicago hardware store.
The Nigerian brothers were released Friday after getting arrested for suspicion of assault and battery. (RELATED: Two Men Arrested In Smollett Case Released With No Charges)
“We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation,” CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement Sunday to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “We’ve reached out to the Empire cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”
Guglielmi said previously that media reports claiming the attack was a hoax were “unconfirmed” and the “supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate,” on Twitter Thursday.