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Jussie Smollett lawyer lashes out after judge rules brothers’ defamation suit can go forward

March 19, 2022 | | Print Article

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The two Nigerian actors whom disgraced Hollywood actor Jussie Smollett had hired to help him carry out his race crime hoax, are reportedly making one final attempt to hold his attorneys accountable. But in response, Smollett’s attorneys are reportedly making their own stand.

The ordeal began in early 2019 when brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo filed lawsuits accusing Mike Geragos and Tina Glandian of Geragos & Geragos of having smeared them.

Filed days after the initial charges against Smollett were inexplicably dismissed, the suits argued that “in the aftermath of the controversial dismissal of Smollett’s criminal case, the former ‘Empire’ actor’s high-profile legal team continued to smear the Osundairo brothers on TV and in podcast interviews,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

The suit against Geragos was dismissed in 2020 because the allegations against him “were too vague,” according to the Cook County Record. However, the suit against Glandian was left untouched.

The suit against her zeroed in specifically on what she’d said during an NBC News’ “Today” appearance in March of 2019.

Asked why Smollett had thought his alleged attackers had been white given the brothers’ dark skin, she’d accused the brothers of having disguised themselves.

Now fast-forward to this Thursday, when, in the wake of Smollett finally being convicted and sentenced, Geragos & Geragos filed a counter-suit challenging the legitimacy of the Osundairo brothers’ lawsuits against them.

The suit accuses the brothers of having “shamelessly used the federal court system as their vehicle for a bizarre, lawyer-driven publicity stunt designed to try to keep the Osundairo brothers relevant after the dismissal of [the initial] criminal charges against Mr. Smollett and to draw media attention to relatively unknown lawyers and their law firms.”

“In April of 2019, in an effort to capitalize on the Osundairo brothers’ newfound infamy and to inject themselves into the limelight, Defendants filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois against the attorneys and law firm representing Mr. Smollett,” the suit adds.

It continues, “Immediately after filing the frivolous lawsuit, Defendants brazenly held a press conference to draw national attention to their baseless claims.”

As further proof, the suit points to the brothers’ website, which “promises NFTs featuring hot sauce bottles, MAGA hats, ski masks and sandwiches — references to the circumstances of the allegedly phony attack on Smollett,” according to the Tribune.

“The entire NFT collection is intended as some sort of twisted parody of an event which the Osundairo brothers claimed to have ‘tremendous regret’ over,” the suit itself reads.

In a statement to the Tribune, the brothers’ attorney, Gloria Rodriguez, called the complaint “absurd.”

Incidentally, the suit mentions her as well.

According to Fox News, it states “that given the fact that the Osundairo brothers were considered the State’s ‘star witnesses’ in the high-profile prosecution of Smollett, Rodriguez subsequently used the limelight to further create a cache for herself by holding a press conference ‘in which she attacked Mr. Smollett’s credibility, improperly opined on his guilt, and attempted to seize the moral high ground.'”

Rodriguez may, however, have had a valid reason for being so dismissive of the suit. A day after it was filed, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland approved Osundairo’s defamation suit against Glandian, sending it to trial.

“In her ruling, Rowland wrote that Glandian’s allegation could legally be construed as an attempt ‘to dispel the inconsistency in Smollett’s story (the attackers had light skin) and bolster her contention that the plaintiffs (who are not light skinned) were Smollett’s attackers,'” according to the Tribune.

“Taken in context, Glandian was asserting plaintiffs’ involvement in a racially motivated attack. Explaining that the attackers were white, read in context, adds the implication that the attack was a hate crime,” Rowland reportedly wrote.

According to Rodriguez, the brothers are thrilled.

“They were very happy with the judge’s ruling. They look forward to their day in court and will continue defending themselves against other defamatory remarks,” she told the Tribune.

All this comes within days of Smollett finally being sentenced but then released only days later, raising concerns about the privilege he carries as a wealthy man with influence.

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Vivek Saxena
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