Jussie Smollett made the conscientious decision to testify in his own defense against allegations from prosecutors in Chicago that the actor staged a vile hate crime against himself with the assistance of his associates, brothers Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo, who allege he paid them to carry out the fake hate crime attack against him in 2019.

While the former "Empire" performer gave a whirlwind testimony over the course of two days that saw Smollett vehemently state in no uncertain terms that the allegations are "100% false" despite what the Osundairo brothers previously testified, some legal experts believe Smollett did himself no favors and likely hurt his defense by taking the stand. 

"Smollett testifying in his own defense is one of two things, or maybe both: a narcissistic criminal defendant who is doubling down on his charged lies to law enforcement or defense attorneys who know they are way behind and are throwing a low probability Hail Mary to try to get their client off," former U.S. attorney Neama Rahmani, who is not involved with Smollett's case, told Fox News Digital. 

Rahmani added: "Either way, Smollett’s story was a bizarre attempt at forcing a square peg into a round hole by offering every possible explanation for the state’s digital evidence except the most obvious one: that he is guilty. In the unlikely event he is acquitted, Smollett’s decision was a genius move. But it is far more likely that the jury sees through his ruse and Smollett is convicted. If so, the judge may sentence him to prison time for obstructing justice and perjuring himself on the witness stand."