It’s Raining Lawsuits on Jussie Smollett; City of Chicago and Nigerian Brothers Suing Actor

The City of Chicago has confirmed it will be suing disgraced actor Jussie Smollett. The lawsuit will seek the $130,106.15 “to cover an overtime tab racked up by dozens of officers tasked with investigating Smollett’s claims that he was the victim of an attack”, reports Daily Mail UK.

According to the legal filing, the Chicago Department came to the conclusion to pursue the lawsuit after over two dozen cops spent weeks investigating the fake attack and logged 1,836 hours of overtime as a result.

Daily Mail also noted the Osundairo brothers who were hired by Smollett to stage his attack, plan to continue with their own lawsuit against Smollett’s legal team. According to the Daily Mail, “they’re seeking undisclosed damages after claiming their careers and reputations were damaged in the high-profile hoax.”

After the initial set of charges were dropped against the brothers, Abel and Ola Osundairo, they sued Smollett’s attorneys in April 2019, claiming their careers and reputations were damaged. “They claimed in the defamation lawsuit against lawyers Mark Geragos and Tina Glandian that they were maliciously portrayed as liars in the public” reports Daily Mail.

The lawsuit specifically references how Smollett’s attorneys suggested the brothers ‘might have been wearing white face’ when they attacked him and inferred that Abel had a sexual relationship with Smollett. Abel’s home country of Nigeria prohibits homosexuality. ‘Same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Nigeria, which can result in 14 years of imprisonment…if the accused is married the punishment is death by stoning.’

Therefore, Ms. Glandian’s statements about the brother being a homosexual ‘endangers him and the lives of his Nigerian family’ the lawsuit stated. The brothers’ lawsuit was stayed by a federal judge until the criminal proceedings for Smollett are completed. The brothers’ legal team is expected to file an update to the court by February 2.

Smollett, 39, was just convicted on five counts of disorderly conduct for faking his own attack and now faces jail time. “His sentencing date has not yet been set but he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.”