Court Dismisses Defamation Suit Filed by Jussie Smollett’s Hoax Attackers
From Osundairo v. Glandian, decided Friday by Judge Mary Rowland (N.D. Ill.):
Plaintiffs Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo … attacked actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago on January 29, 2019. Plaintiffs describe the attack as being “fake,” “staged,” and a “social media hoax” that was orchestrated my Mr. Smollett to create public attention. To that end, the Osundairo brothers claim Smollett directed that the attack occur in the view of a surveillance camera and that the brothers dressed and acted like “white supremacists” and “MAGA Trump supporters.”
Plaintiff Abimbola attempted to look like a “southern country white person” during the attack. Immediately before the attack, Plaintiffs shouted racist and homophobic slurs at Smollett, who is black and openly gay. Abimbola struck Smollett during the attack and tried to bruise him, although Plaintiffs contend that the punches were “pulled” so as to not harm Mr. Smollett.
The attack generated significant public interest, and the Osundairo brothers enlisted a public relations agency to handle the volume of media inquiries that they received. Within a month of the attack, Plaintiffs and their representatives began negotiating their participation in a documentary in which the brothers planned to tell their story. Since the attack, the Osundairo brothers starred in both a documentary and in a series of podcasts related to the attack, and the brothers have made several other related media appearances. At the time of briefing, Plaintiffs were working with a publisher on a book related to their involvement.
Smollett was charged with filing a false police report related to the attack, although those charges were dropped. Defendant [Tina] Glandian represented Smollett in those proceedings. Glandian appeared on the Today Show on March 27, 2019, to discuss the charg
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