Jussie Smollett – Judge Rules That Osundairo Brothers Can Move Forward W/ Defamation Suit Against Actor’s Attorney Over ‘Whiteface’ Comments

March 21, 2022 by Twila-Amoure McDaniel in TV with 0 Comments

Jussie Smollett, Osundairo Brothers

Jussie Smollett – Judge Rules That Osundairo Brothers Can Move Forward W/ Defamation Suit Against Actor’s Attorney Over ‘Whiteface’ Comments

The legal saga surrounding Jussie Smollett’s staged hate crime lives to see another day.

According to reports, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland has ruled that comments made 3 years ago by Jussie Smollett’s Los Angeles-based attorney Tina Glandian claiming that Nigerian brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo might have attacked the actor while in “whiteface” could be construed as defamation.

This recent ruling means that the defamation lawsuit previously filed by the Osundairo brothers against Glandian can move forward. However, the judge did dismiss all other counts brought against Glandian’s firm, Geragos & Geragos. According to the Osundairos’ lawsuit, after Jussie Smollett’s charges were initially dropped by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office, the entertainer’s legal team continued to bash the brothers on TV and in podcast interviews.

One incident occurred on March 28, 2019, during Glandian’s appearance on the “Today” show. While on the daily live broadcast, the lawyer alluded that the infamous brothers probably attacked the “Empire” actor while wearing makeup so they could appear as white men. Glandian then called out Chicago police for allegedly failing to investigate an online video showing one of the Osundairo brothers

“in whiteface doing a Joker monologue with white makeup on.”

She added,

“And so it’s not — it’s not implausible.”

In her ruling, Judge 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.”

She added,

“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.”

According to reports, Glandian’s firm sued the Nigerian brothers in Cook County court last week, claiming that their defamation suit and its “baseless claims” amounted to malicious prosecution.