People
CHICAGO — The investigation into black actor Jussie Smollett's account of being beaten in a racist, anti-gay attack took a sharp turn Friday when police announced the arrest of two black men they believe assaulted the “Empire” cast member.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said authorities had probable cause to believe the men committed assault and battery against Smollett. But they had not been charged as of Friday afternoon.
Smollett, who is gay, has said two masked men shouting racial and anti-gay slurs and “This is MAGA country!” beat him and looped a rope around his neck early on Jan. 29 before running away. He said they also poured some kind of chemical on him.
The two suspects, identified only as Nigerian brothers, were picked up at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on Wednesday on their return from Nigeria after police learned at least one worked on the TV drama on which Smollett appears, Guglielmi said. He said he did not know what the man's job was.
Guglielmi said police also searched the Chicago apartment where the men lived. But he said he had no information on what was found.
The police spokesman's comments followed a furious 24 hours that included local media reports that the attack was a hoax.
Police said those reports were unconfirmed. And the producers of “Empire” disputed as “patently ridiculous” news reports that Smollett's character was being written out of the show before the attack.
The pop star Katy Perry is engaged to actor Orlando Bloom, whom she first started dating in early 2016.The “Firework” singer and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star each shared a selfie to their Instagram pages showing Perry wearing a flower-shaped ring.Bloom, 42, and the “Roar” artist, 34, were first romantically linked in January 2016. They broke up the following year, before rumors emerged in early 2018 that they'd rekindled their romance.The singer was married to actor Russell Brand from 2010 to 2012, while Bloom was married to supermodel Miranda Kerr from 2010 to 2013.———From combined wire sources
