CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett "is a real victim" of a "real crime," his attorney said in opening statements at the ex-"Empire" actor's trial Monday, rejecting prosecutors' allegation that he staged a homophobic and racist attack in Chicago after the television studio where he worked didn't take hate mail he had received seriously.

Defense attorney Nenye Uche said two brothers attacked Smollett in January 2019 because they didn't like him, and that a $3,500 check the actor paid the men was for training so he could prepare for an upcoming music video, not as payment for staging a hate crime, as...