Jussie Smollett may have known and hooked up with his ‘attacker’ from a Chicago bathhouse

The case surrounding Jussie Smollett, who has been accused of faking a hate crime in early 2019, has taken another curious turn. A new report alleges that the embattled Empire actor knew one of his attackers from a Chicago bathhouse.

Smollett claims that in January 2019, two men attacked him wearing ski masks and “MAGA” hats, while shouting homophobic slurs. The two men allegedly beat the actor and doused him in bleach and tied a noose around his neck. Two weeks after the attack, the police arrested Abel Abimbola Osundairo and Olabinjo Osundairo, two Nigerian-born brothers as possible suspects in the case. The two men provided evidence that Smollett had paid them to stage the attack. Police then charged Smollett with falsifying a police report. The actor continues to maintain his innocence in the matter, and that he was the victim of a genuine hate crime.

The New York Post now reports that an unnamed source familiar with the case has pointed to a Chicago bathhouse as a possible break in the case. According to the source, Abel Osundairo allegedly met Smollett at the bathhouse, and the two began a sexual relationship.

“They used to party together and he had a sexual relationship with [Abel]. They went to this affluent Chicago bathhouse multiple times and they had to show ID. It’s known as a bathhouse where a lot of affluent black gay men hang out. There should be a record [of their visits],” the insider said, adding that the bathhouse records may be subpoenaed in Smollett’s upcoming trial on charges of disorderly conduct.

Smollett’s lawyers, Tina Glandian and Mark Geragos, have previously insinuated that there was a sexual relationship between Smollett and one of the brothers during an interview with “Good Morning America”, a claim which Abel and his brother, Ola, denied, before suing the lawyers last year for defamation.

The suit claimed the comments put the brothers and their family, who are Nigerian, at risk due to the country’s inhumane laws that state homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years in prison and death by stoning if the person is married.

“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. These lies are destroying our character and our reputation in our personal and professional lives,” their attorney, Gloria Schmidt, read in a statement on their behalf at the time.

A judge dismissed the bulk of the defamation suit last month. Smollett, however, continues to fight back against the claim that the brothers helped him stage a hoax racial attack against himself in 2019. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains he paid the brothers $3,500 for performance-enhancing drugs, not to stage a crime.