By now, you've all probably heard about the incident
involving Empire actor Jussie Smollett.
(scattered groans)
According to Smollett,
he was walking the streets of Chicago
a few weeks ago at 2:00 a.m. trying to get a Subway sandwich,
when he was beaten up by two white guys.
And not just any two white guys.
These guys recognized Smollett from Empire
and then, they beat him up
while shouting homophobic and racist slurs at him.
Then they threw a noose around his neck,
poured bleach on him and yelled, "This is MAGA country."
But now it seems like maybe there's a lot more to the story.
Chicago police want to reinterview
Empire actor Jussie Smollett after getting new information
about the alleged attack against him.
Two brothers told police
Smollett paid them to stage the attack.
That's right.
The police now believe that Smollett staged his own attack,
which would be insane!
But you have to admit,
there's a certain part of the story
that was always a little weird.
Like who are the MAGA supporters who hate gay people,
who hate black people, but also happen to watch Empire?
(laughter)
Like, I've heard of hate watching,
but that shit would be next level.
It's like a member of the Klan buying tickets
to Fiddler on the Roof.
Just like, "Look, I'm no fan of the Jews,
but you got to admit, they can play a mean fiddle!"
(laughter)
So now, it's being reported
that Jussie Smollett paid a couple of guys
to fake this attack,
but who would accept money to do such a thing?
These guys.
MAN: Sources say these Nigerian brothers told detectives
Smollett directed them
to buy the rope at this hardware store,
and reportedly even rehearsed the assault ahead of time.
Ola and Abel Osundairo were captured on surveillance video
around the time Smollett said he was attacked.
Ola Osundairo is connected to Smollett through Empire,
where he played a prisoner in season two.
MAN 2: One of the men was the actor's personal trainer.
Hold up. Hold up. Hold up. Hold up. Hold up. Wait.
So Smollett's Nigerian personal trainer
is one of the guys who beat him up?
That doesn't make sense, unless maybe
his trainer was just really pissed off
that Smollett was eating Subway.
Maybe that's what it was.
He just went there, and he's like,
"Ah, what did I tell you?
"No carbs after 7:00 p.m., huh?
No carbs after 7:00 p.m. or..."
This story is so weird. I'm sorry.
Like, I don't care who you are. This is a weird story.
Because now they're saying that Jussie rehearsed the attack
a few days before it happened, and look, I'm not gonna lie.
That's the one part of the story that actually makes sense to me,
'cause if I was paying these two to beat me up,
I would want to practice, too, okay?
No. I'm sorry. Look at this photo.
How many abs does the guy on the left have?
It looks like he stole a couple of abs from the other guy.
So in the public eye, this story has moved
from a hate crime against a popular TV actor
to a giant hoax by a popular TV actor,
but Smollett still insists there was no collusion.
Who the (bleep) would make something like this up
or add something to it?
You do such a disservice when you lie about things like this.
If the attackers are never found,
how will you be able to heal?
I don't know.
Let's just hope that they are.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, let's... let's not go there yet.
Let's, um... Hey. (sniffles)
I was talking to a friend, and I said,
"I just want them to find them."
And she said, "Sweetie, they're not gonna find them."
That just made me so angry.
Okay, either this guy's telling the truth,
or he deserves an Emmy for that interview.
(laughter, applause)
Because if all of that is just a performance,
I don't care what he's lying about.
You can't cancel him. He's too good to not be on TV!