Accused of lying to police, Smollett takes the stand

By DON BABWIN and SARA BURNETT
Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett has taken the witness stand at his trial on charges of staging a racist, anti-gay attack on himself and lying to Chicago police about it. The former “Empire” actor is testifying Monday as the trial enters its second week and nears a finish. Two brothers testified last week that Smollett, who is gay and Black, orchestrated the hoax to get publicity. They said he paid them to fake the January 2019 attack in downtown Chicago. Smollett’s attorneys have argued the attack was real and that the brothers made up the story about a hoax then asked the actor for $1 million each to not testify at trial.