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CHICAGO — Two brothers who say they helped Jussie Smollett stage a racist and homophobic attack against himself sued the “Empire” actor's attorneys on Tuesday, accusing them of defamation by continuing to insist publicly that the brothers carried out a real, bigoted attack on Smollett despite knowing that was untrue.
Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo said in a joint statement issued after their lawsuit was filed in federal court in Chicago that Smollett's legal team has spread false accusations that have hurt their reputations and undermined their career prospects.
“We have sat back and watched lie after lie being fabricated about us in the media only so one big lie can continue to have life,” they said. “These lies are destroying our character and reputation in our personal and professional lives.”
In their lawsuit, the Osundairos contend that even after prosecutors dropped the charges against Smollett despite saying they believed they could prove the attack was a hoax, Smollett's attorneys kept saying in interviews that the Chicago-born brothers “led a criminally homophobic, racist and violent attack against Mr. Smollett.”
“Mr. Smollett's attorneys, faced with an outraged public, did not retreat after their success (in getting charges dropped). Instead, they doubled down,” states the lawsuit, which names celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, fellow lawyer Tina Glandian and Geragos' Los Angeles-based law firm as defendants.
In a joint statement, Geragos and Glandian called the lawsuit “ridiculous” and “a desperate attempt” by the brothers “to stay relevant and further profit from an attack they admit they perpetrated.”
“We look forward to exposing the fraud the Osundairo brothers and their attorneys have committed on the public,” they added.
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NEW YORK — Paul Simon is donating all net proceeds from his 2019 Outside Lands Festival performance to two environmental organizations.
Simon announced Tuesday that his Aug. 11 performance will benefit the San Francisco Parks Alliance and Friends of the Urban Forest.
The Outside Lands Festival will take place Aug. 9-11 at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Other performers will include Childish Gambino, Kacey Musgraves, Mavis Staples, Twenty One Pilots, Lil Wayne, Blink-182 and Ella Mai.
Simon retired from touring last year but plans to perform occasionally at benefit concerts.
The 77-year-old says he's “pleased to be playing in San Francisco with its well-deserved reputation for being in the forefront of environmental issues.”
———WILDWOOD, N.J. — The mayor of a New Jersey shore town says they will keep playing Kate Smith's recording of “God Bless America” on its boardwalk despite allegations of racism against the singer.Wildwood has traditionally started each day by playing the song.“It's an Irving Berlin patriotic song that has nothing to do with anything but America,” Mayor Ernie Troiano said. “We have no intention of removing it, and it's not a statement that we don't understand what's going on or we're ignorant to the history, we understand the history.”Troiano said he plans to speak with his cabinet to make sure they all feel as passionate about the issue as he does.The mayor's comments come as some sports teams, including the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Flyers, have stopped playing Smith's version of the song amid conflicting claims about several of her tunes.Besides taking out Smith's “God Bless America” recording from their library, the Flyers have removed a bronze statue of her that had long stood outside their arena. The statue was removed Sunday, and its whereabouts have not been disclosed.Smith's connection with the Flyers started in 1969 when a team executive ordered her version of “God Bless America” to be played instead of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” That led to her performing the song several times before games in the 1970s. A year after her 1986 death, the team erected the statue.
