Smollett’s Attorney Suggests The Nigerian Brothers May Have Been Wearing Whiteface

Actor Jussie Smollett’s attorney Tina Glandian alleged her client’s attackers may have been wearing whiteface, in a Thursday interview with NBC News.

“You can put makeup on,” Glandian said, adding that she had Googled the [Osundairo] brothers and found an old video showing they wore whiteface in an earlier recorded performance. “You know, I was looking up the brothers, and one of the videos that showed up actually was of the brothers in whiteface doing a joker monologue with white makeup on him. So, it’s not — it’s not implausible,” Glandian said.

The Nigerian Osundairo brothers allege that “Empire” actor Smollett, 36, hired them to attack him in order to stage a fake hate crime. After the alleged attack, Smollett told police at least one of the attackers had white or pale skin.

Smollett was arrested and charged in February for allegedly filing a false police report, which claimed he was attacked, splattered with a chemical substance and put into a noose-like rope. The two attackers yelled, “This is MAGA country” in the Jan. 29 attack on Smollett, according to the actor.

Chicago police reportedly have photos of the Osundairo brothers and Smollett together in a car only days before the attack.

He was indicted by a grand jury on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct in early March. Smollett pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of disorderly conduct on March 14. The state, however, dropped all 16 charges against the actor Tuesday.

Confusion about why the state dropped charges as well as what happened during the alleged attack persists.

Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris said Tuesday that she was “completely confused” after the charges were dropped. “To be perfectly honest with you, Wolf, I’m completely confused. I don’t understand. I don’t know the underlying evidence. There’s a sealed document, obviously. I don’t know. I’m at a loss,” she told Wolf Blitzer in an interview.