The sad case of who attacked Jussie Smollett took a sharp turn this weekend.

According to multiple reports, Jussie allegedly promised to pay two pals $4,000 to stage his racist and homophobic assault — which the trio even rehearsed beforehand, according to a new report.

The two men — models and actors Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo — have worked on Empire and were initially detained on suspicion of assault and battery for the alleged hate attack, according to police. That is, until they showed new evidence that allowed them to be released (we assume they showed cops proof that Jussie hired them to stage the attack). The two men are now cooperating with officials.

Police previously confirmed Abel and Ola are the ones in the video footage found near the scene: “Yes, they are confirmed to be the men on scene by surveillance video,” Chicago Police said in a statement to ABC7 Chicago. “The reason why they were there is now central to the investigation and we can’t get into that at this time.”

Jussie had said last week week he was certain the two grainy figures captured on camera were his assailants: “I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them. Never did,” he said on GMA.

Now, the brothers tell cops the attack in Chicago was supposed to happen before Jan. 29 and that they practiced it in the days before it happened. Sources said one of the brothers held the rope and poured bleach on Jussie during the 2 a.m. attack, while the other donned a red hat and shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him. Jussie, 36, also allegedly paid for the rope.

“Due to new evidence as a result of today’s interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charging,” police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said this weekend, just before the news of the payment broke. “Detectives have additional investigative work to complete.”

Jussie further alluded on GMA that his attackers were white. “It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel the doubters would’ve supported me a lot much more,” he said. “That says a lot about the place that we are in this country right now.”

The actor’s attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson released a statement late Saturday, saying the actor is “angered and devastated” by claims he staged the attack, according to ABC Chicago.

“He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying,” the statement said. “One of these purported suspects was Jussie’s personal trainer who he hired to ready him physically for a music video. It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity.”

Trump got in on it too.

It appears that Jussie Smollett tried to manufacture a hate crime to make Trump supporters look bad and most of the media not only uncritically accepted his lies as facts for weeks, but attacked those who questioned the validity of his false story.

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 17, 2019