The Nigerian brothers who were ridiculed after being embroiled in Jussie Smollett’s anti-Trump hoax have demanded the actor finally come clean, saying the stunt “ruined” their lives for years.
Abel and Ola Osundairo told DailyMail.com in an interview that the claims against them broke their budding acting careers in 2019, saying that “people just didn’t want anything to do with us.”
“I had officers withdraw from our relationship,” Abel said. “We had friends and family asking us about it, strangers accusing us… it was all very negative.”
“Places where we tried to work wouldn’t hire us, and there were people who just didn’t want anything to do with us.”
The brothers found themselves at the center of a media firestorm five years ago when they say Smollett convinced them to pull off a bizarre stunt so the actor could claim he was beaten and nearly lynched by men in MAGA hats.
But his story fell apart after police traced the stunt to the Osundairo brothers, and although they openly said they were innocently trying to help a friend, Smollett has maintained his innocence.
“He doesn’t want to admit his guilt, and if he claims he’s innocent, it means we’re lying, and both of those things can’t be true,” Ola said. “He has to face it.”
They said the strange saga enveloped their lives for years — including the need to fight a bizarre and insulting accusation that they used “whiteface” during the hoax, levied by Smollett’s own attorney.
Brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo (pictured) told DailyMail.com that actor Jussie Smollett ‘ruined’ their lives for years with an infamous anti-Trump hoax in 2019
Jussie Smollett, who was seen in court in March 2019, had his conviction for lying to police about the stunt overturned this week in a sensational Illinois Supreme Court ruling
The brothers became involved in the boxing and fight promotion world, with Abel (pictured) having a 6-1-0 professional boxing record since turning pro two years ago.
Abel said he was first introduced to Smollett through a friend, and initially found the actor to be a kind and “real” person.
“They hung out at his house and asked if I wanted to come,” he said, adding that because Smollett is also a professional actor, it would have been “good to know.”
“We became cool,” he continued. “He started inviting me to clubs and shows, and then he came to me for exercise tips.”
Despite Smollett’s now shattered reputation, Abel said he thought the actor was a “real man” when they first became friends.
“He was very easy to get along with,” he added. “He only changed after the incident.”
Speaking to Fox News, the brothers previously revealed that Smollett talked them into the hoax by often claiming fake hoaxes from A-list celebrities, citing Kim Kardashian’s 2016 robbery in France as an example.
Abel said Smollett made the claim about Kardashian’s robbery while they were together, “in my car on the way to my house, when he told me the plan.”
“He told me that everyone in Hollywood does this,” he added.
The brothers previously revealed that Smollett talked them into the hoax by often claiming fake hoaxes from A-list celebrities, citing Kim Kardashian’s 2016 robbery in France as an alleged example
Although he initially received a groundswell of support after coming forward with his story, Smollett fell dramatically from favor when investigators said he made it up (seen in his mugshot after his first arrest in 2019).
In the terrifying episode, Kardashian was ‘bound and gagged’ at gunpoint by masked robbers posing as police officers during their stay at l’Hotel de Pourtalès, stealing $10 million worth of luxury jewellery.
The perpetrators were arrested and convicted after a trial in Paris, and there has been no indication from French authorities that the robbery was a hoax.
Despite the wild claim, the brothers said they saw the stunt as a way to further their Hollywood ambitions, and that they also wanted to help a friend.
But the move had the opposite effect. Before the stunt, the brothers were still launching their acting careers, with Abel being credited in films like “The Worst Nightmare” and Ola in an episode of Chicago PD.
However, Ola said that since the incident, “being associated with Jussie” has been a constant hurdle in their careers, including halting all auditions for years.
“I’ve had officers withdraw from our relationship,” Abel added. ‘It was all very emotional at the time.’
“Places where we tried to work wouldn’t hire us, and there were people who just didn’t want anything to do with us.”
When asked if it frustrates them that Smollett is trying to break back into Hollywood, Ola said it doesn’t – but “what irritates me is that he doesn’t want to admit his guilt.”
The brothers have become involved in the boxing and fight promotion world, with Abel boasting a 6-1-0 professional boxing record since turning pro two years ago.
When Smollett came forward with his claims in 2019, police released this image of the brothers walking near the scene of the attack on the night of the attack. Smollett said that without realizing they had been arrested, “absolutely” was an image of the men attacking him.
Jussie Smollett’s attorney, Tina Glandian, suggested the reason he told police his Nigerian attackers were white was because they “may be wearing whiteface.” Her proof of the theory was a 2016 video of Abel Osundairo (pictured) dressed as the Joker for Halloween
When the allegations that Smollett was lying first came to light, his attorney claimed that the brothers may have been misidentified by Smollett as white men because they may have been wearing “whiteface” makeup.
The attorney, Tina Glandian, further pointed to a 2016 YouTube video by Abel Osundairo in which he wears white makeup to perform a Joker monologue for Halloween as proof of her theory.
Abel said the accusation was extremely insulting to them and their family, especially “given the history of blackface in America.”
“That would have been such a ridiculous thing for someone like us,” he said. “But we had friends and family asking us about it, and strangers accusing us.”
After years of investigation, the brothers say Smollett never attempted to contact them, pointing out that the actor “still owes us $500.”
Earlier this year, the brothers released a tell-all book titled “Bigger Than Jussie: The Disturbing Need for a Modern-Day Lynching,” because Abel said it was “the right time to tell the truth.”
But despite their history together, the brothers said if the actor reached out, they would take his call.
“As a child of God, I should accept his apology,” Abel said.
‘But first he should come out and admit his guilt. I could forgive him, but in the end it would be nice if he would admit what really happened to the world.”
Now focusing on their boxing and trying to ‘turn over a new leaf’, the brothers laid out their side of the story earlier this year when they released a tell-all book.
Titled “Bigger Than Jussie: The Disturbing Need for a Modern-Day Lynching,” Abel said he felt now was the “right time to tell the truth.”
“Now that his conviction has been overturned, people can now look at it and see that he is not innocent,” he continued.
“He’s going to try to ride off into the sunset and say he’s innocent… his lawyer is now trying to give the impression that he was innocent all along, and we just can’t allow that.
“We give people the tools to consume the truth.”