Jussie Smollett released a long statement through his lawyers denying all of the reports from the past four days. Smollett is still calling himself a “victim of a hate crime” and said he’s “angered and devastated” by the reports that his attackers were friends or acquaintances, and that if his friends are claiming otherwise, they’re the ones who are lying. He also – justifiably – bashed all of the leaking from the Chicago police department. Almost all of what we know about this situation has been coming from police leaks from the very beginning. This situation might very well end up being a hoax from start to finish, but as Ava DuVernay tweeted:

Despite the inconsistencies, I can’t blindly believe Chicago PD. The department that covered up shooting Laquan McDonald over a dozen times? That operated an off-site torture facility? That one? I’ll wait. Whatever the outcome, this won’t stop me from believing others. It can’t.

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) February 17, 2019

So, let’s get to the latest all of these police sources have leaked this weekend. According to CBS Chicago (via Page Six), Jussie apparently promised to pay the Nigerian brothers to help him stage the attack:

Jussie Smollett allegedly promised to pay his two pals $4,000 to stage his racist and homophobic assault — which the trio even rehearsed beforehand, according to a new report. The embattled “Empire” star paid $3,500 to bodybuilding brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo before they left for Nigeria the day of the Jan. 29 attack, and promised another $500 upon their return to the US, sources told CBS Chicago.

The brothers told cops that the alleged attack in Chicago was supposed to happen before Jan. 29 and that they practiced it in the days before it happened. Smollett, 36, also allegedly paid for the rope, which was purchased from the Crafty Beaver Hardware Store in the Ravenswood neighborhood the weekend of Jan. 25. Sources said one of the brothers held the rope and poured bleach on Smollett during the 2 a.m. attack, while the other donned a red hat and shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him. The red hat was bought at an Uptown beauty supply store.

[From Page Six]

That’s pretty cheap for “staging a hate crime with rehearsals.” TMZ also got a ton of information about what’s next in the case, going forward. Like, a grand jury will be impaneled.

A grand jury will hear the Jussie Smollett case early next week … law enforcement sources tell TMZ. Law enforcement sources connected to the investigation tell TMZ, the 2 brothers who were arrested and then released are staying somewhere around the Loop in downtown Chicago under the watchful eye of police so no one gets to them. We’re told cops especially want to make sure Jussie does not contact the brothers.

We’re told when police raided the home of the 2 brothers they found magazines with pages torn out, and authorities are now trying to determine if the missing pages are connected to the threatening letter that was sent to Jussie 8 days before the alleged attack. Our sources say early on they asked Jussie if he’d sign complaints against the 2 men who attacked him and he was clear that he would. But, when he found out the 2 brothers were the ones in custody we’re told he said he knew them, felt bad for them and declined to sign the complaints. Our sources say although cops believe the brothers purchased the rope that was around Jussie’s neck after the incident, there is no surveillance video at the hardware store because it erases after a week.

The sources say there were red flags from the get-go. Cops were extremely suspicious when Jussie took them out to the area where he said he was attacked and pointed to an obscure camera saying how happy he was that the attack was on video. Turns out the camera was pointing in the wrong direction. Cops thought it was weird he knew the location of that camera. And, there’s this. We’re told investigators didn’t believe the 2 alleged attackers screamed, “This is MAGA country,” because, “Not a single Trump supporter watches ‘Empire.’”

And, a few loose ends … we’re told when cops picked up the 2 brothers at O’Hare Airport, police were armed with 3 warrants for each man, one of which was to seize their phones. We’re also told there is no video of a “rehearsal” of the attack in the street.

[From TMZ]

“Jussie took them out to the area where he said he was attacked and pointed to an obscure camera saying how happy he was that the attack was on video…Cops thought it was weird he knew the location of that camera…” It was, like, a street camera? What was obscure about it? People notice the cameras all the time, especially in big cities. Anyway, this is just a huge mess. Jussie is likely a very disturbed individual, but also: the way the Chicago PD has handled this from the start has left a bad taste in my mouth. “He pointed out a camera, this dude is LYING!”

Photos courtesy of WENN.