Jussie Smollett: Released Case Documents Could Deter A Career Comeback | THR News - video Dailymotion

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Late last week, thousands of pages of documents in the Jussie Smollett case, including emails, text messages, police reports and court records, were released.

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00:00New court documents released late last week regarding the Jussie Smollett case have

00:04raised more questions than they've answered about the ordeal and could hurt the

00:07actor's chance at a Hollywood comeback. Back in February, a Chicago grand jury

00:12indicted Smollett with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct after a police

00:16investigation found that the actor had lied about being the victim of a hate crime

00:20in January when he claimed he was physically assaulted by two men wearing

00:24MAGA hats who shouted racial and homophobic slurs, poured bleach on him and

00:28hung a noose around his neck. After a lengthy police investigation, it was

00:32concluded that the actor was unhappy about his salary on Fox's Empire and so he paid

00:37two brothers, Abel and Ola Asandairo, who he previously hired as his physical trainers,

00:42$3,500 to help stage the attack. But as a shock to most, the DA's office unexpectedly

00:48dropped all charges against the actor. At the time, Superintendent of Police Eddie T.

00:53Johnson and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel denounced the DA's decision to drop the case

00:58and called it a whitewash of justice. But now thousands of pages of documents, including

01:03emails, text messages, police reports and court records, were released, raising more

01:08questions about the actor and the murkiness around his story. Among the revelations, a

01:12text message exchange reveals how Smollett attempted to acquire drugs from the two

01:16brothers who allegedly helped him stage and carry out the hoax hate crime. Police files

01:21also indicate that Smollett paid the brothers repeatedly via Venmo and PayPal for ecstasy,

01:26cocaine and marijuana just days leading up to the staged attack. They also reveal a more

01:31detailed outline of the communication between the three men to plan out the hoax.

01:35Smollett asked the brothers to meet face to face to discuss plans. Police records indicate

01:40the details were corroborated on video and by GPS data. Other documents reveal how one of the

01:45brothers deliberately tried not to harm Smollett during the supposed attack and only

01:50made it look as though the actor was bruised. And another released document shows that the

01:54other brother was afraid to escalate the confrontation for fear of being shot by police,

01:58further strengthening the allegation that Smollett lied. Empire's writing staff had

02:02already written Smollett out of the final episodes of the current season and although

02:0620th Century Fox Television and Imagine Entertainment extended the actor's option for

02:11a season six, they also said in a statement that they had no plans to bring the

02:15embattled actor back on the show. Through all of this, Smollett has continued to maintain his

02:19innocence, insisting the attack happened as he described it. The Austin-Dyro brothers are

02:23suing Smollett's attorney, Mark Garagos, for defamation.

02:26For more on this story, head to THR.com and until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News,

02:31I'm Aya Joy.

Jussie Smollett: Released Case Documents Could Deter A Career Comeback | THR News

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