Jussie Smollett‘s lawyer is taking legal action against the Nigerian brothers involved in his alleged kidnapping hoax, according to Rolling Stone.
In a defamation lawsuit filed by defense attorney Mark Geragos, he claims that Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo falsely insisted that his comments about their involvement in the stunt were inaccurate.
The Osundairo brothers had initially filed a suit in which they alleged that Geragos went on his “Reasonable Doubt” podcast and alongside associate Tina Glandian, wrongly accused them of carrying out an actual hate crime against his client. In his countersuit, Smollett argues that their claims were “frivolous and fraudulent.”
“They fabricated statements out of thin air and falsely attributed them to Mr. Geragos,” read the suit, per Rolling Stone. “In actuality, and as the transcript of the podcast reveals, Mr. Geragos never said anything remotely similar to what the complaint alleged […] Since the time the fraudulent lawsuit was filed, [Geragos and his firm] have wasted considerable time, effort and resources to defend themselves, and to mitigate the damage to their reputation that flowed from defendants’ reckless and malicious actions.”
Since authorities discovered the Osundairos were connected to Smollett’s reported attack, the brothers have maintained their innocence from allegations of conducting a hate crime. Instead, they’ve declared that they participated in the staged assault after being hired for the job. Though their lawsuit against Geragos and Glanian were dismissed, Abimbola and Olabinjo were recently told they can still take legal action against the associate, who made disparaging comments about them on another occasion.
“I was looking up the brothers and one of the first videos that showed up actually was one of the brothers in whiteface, doing a Joker monologue with white makeup on,” Glandian said during a 2019 interview on the “Today” show. “And so it’s not implausible.”