NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Two brothers sue Smollett’s lawyers, claiming defamation

CHICAGO

Two brothers who say they helped Jussie Smollett stage a racist and homo-phobic attack against himself sued the “Empire” actor’s attorneys Tuesday, accusing them of defamation by continuing to insist publicly that the brothers carried out a real, bigoted attack on Smollett despite knowing that wasn’t true.

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.”

Mueller report release not exactly appointment viewing

NEW YORK

Given all the attention it has received over the past two years, the actual release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report wasn’t exactly appointment television viewing.

The ABC, CBS and NBC broadcast networks and cable’s CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC collectively averaged 12.7 million viewers last Thursday when the redacted report on Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election was put out, the Nielsen company said.

For the week of April 15-21, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “NCIS,” CBS, 11.89 million; “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 11.45 million; “Game of Thrones,” HBO, 10.29 million; “FBI,” CBS, 8.77 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.47 million; “Survivor,” CBS, 7.9 million; “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 7.66 million; “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 7.18 million; “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 7.11 million; “America Idol” (Monday), ABC, 7.10 million.

Associated Press