Ola and Abel Osundairo, the two men arrested last week and released without charges amid reports they were paid by Empire actor Jussie Smollett to stage an alleged hate crime, were scheduled to testify before a Cook County grand jury today but their testimony was postponed because of “new evidence” presented by Smollett’s lawyers, according to CBS Chicago. The network also reports that new search warrants have been authorized, but those were not specified.
In related news, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself from the investigation into the attack, PBS News Hour reported.
Said Foxx spokeswoman Tandra Simonton: “Out of an abundance of caution, the decision to recuse herself was made to address potential questions of impartiality based upon familiarity with potential witnesses in the case.”
In other related news, 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment released a statement responding to reports that Smollett’s Empire scenes had been cut in the wake of developments in the case surrounding the alleged attack.
Said the statement: “Jussie Smollett continues to be a consummate professional on set and as we have previously stated, he is not being written out of the show.”
Smollett’s brother Jocqui and his sister Jurnee share a quote attributed to Malcolm X on Instagram criticizing the media for their handling of the alleged incident.
The quote: “This is the media, an irresponsible media. It will make the criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the media will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
Follow our coverage of the Jussie Smollett case HERE.
