Gloria Schmidt, who represented the brothers during the criminal investigation of the purported attack and subsequent prosecution of Smollett, continues to serve them in the federal case along with attorneys Gregory Kulis and James Tunick, according to the court filing. • • • See all of CWBChicago’s previous coverage of the Smollett matter HERE.
Full Answer
Schmidt also slammed Smollett's lawyer Tina Glandian for saying that the brothers could have been wearing whiteface when they attacked him.
After the charges against Smollett were dropped, Schmidt and the brothers parted ways.
Jussie Smollett's lawyer Tina Glandian suggested on Thursday that the reason he told police his Nigerian attackers were white was because they 'might have been wearing white face' and had disguised themselves.
Has there ever been such a hyped album launch as Adele's $50million Operation Overkill? ALISON BOSHOFF says singer's return to the spotlight couldn't have been more exhaustive
Smollett, 36 , maintains he is telling the truth. He flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday ahead of the NAACP awards on Saturday where he is nominated for the Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role award.
The brothers fled to Nigeria after the January 29 incident and were picked up by police upon their return.
Schmidt revealed that she was in touch with prosecutors days before the shock decision and was arranging for her clients to testify against Smollett.
But on February 20, 2019, after cops uncovered the despicable ruse, the brothers told a grand jury the truth, which led to the 16 felonies. Smollett pled not guilty and prosecutors dropped the charges.
Cops quickly tracked down the brothers and assembled irrefutable evidence of Smollett’s guilt. They charged him with 16 felonies, but then dropped the case after Smollett agreed, they claimed, to community service and surrendering the $10,000 bond he posted after his arrest. City authorities sued Smollett for the cost of the probe, some $130,000.
The lawsuit accuse s Geragos of approving and joining Glandian’s false statements “to promote his law firm and his reputation.”
The Osundairo brothers, Olabinjo (right) and Abimbola (left), claim that Smollett’s hotshot celebrity attorneys Mark Geragos and Tina Glandian defamed them by claiming the brothers actually attacked Smollett and committed a hate crime.
Smollett’s trickery was “shameful,” Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said. “Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career. It’s shameful. It’s just despicable.”
Even worse, the lawsuit, says, the lawyers knew the claims were false when they caused them to be “published broadly in Illinois by major news outlets such as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and WGN Radio.” The lawsuit also accuses the lawyers of similarly smearing the brothers in “national media.”
Among attorney Glandian’s false claims, the lawsuit alleges, are that the brothers did indeed attack Smollett in a genuine hate crime and that they committed perjury, wore whiteface, and conspired to lie to police. Glandian also harmed their fitness business, the lawsuit alleges, and also falsely claimed that Smollett and Abimbola Osundairo “engaged, at least briefly, in homosexual acts together.”