Jussie Smollett’s lawyer has finally offered an explanation for why he told police he thought his Nigerian attackers were white: they could have been wearing make-up.
In an interview on Today, Tina Glandian claimed that Smollett did not recognize the Abel and Ola Osundairo when they attacked him on January 29 and that it still has not been proven that it was them, despite the fact that Smollett identified a photograph of the pair as his attackers before he was ever arrested and even though they had just been on the phone with him.
When he learned it was them once they were in custody, Glandian said, Smollett ‘found it hard to believe’ because he had told that he could make out one had ‘pale or white skin’ around his eyes beneath the ski mask he was wearing.
It was not a lie, she insisted, adding that the reason for it could have been that the brothers were in ‘disguise’.
‘He did tell police that from what he saw, he thought it was white or pale skin, that’s what he initially said.
‘Obviously, you can disguise that. You can put make-up on,’ she said.
“If he is a victim of a crime as he contends, will he urge prosecutors to bring charges against the Osundairo brothers and will he be willing to testify?” — @SavannahGuthrie asks Jussie Smollett’s attorney, Tina Glandian. pic.twitter.com/Gq7OwzRXTu
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 28, 2019
She went on to point to a 2016 YouTube video of Abel Osundairo, the brother in question, where he is wearing white make-up to perform a Joker monologue as potential proof of her theory.Â
‘There’s a video, it took me all of five minutes when I was looking into the brothers, to of one of the brothers in whiteface doing the Joker monologue,’ she said.
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.