Underbelly actor Firass Dirani has defended convicted rapist Jarryd Hayne in a baffling Instagram post where he bizarrely claimed that the fallen footballer was ‘framed’.
Hayne, 35, was on Tuesday found guilty of two counts of raping a woman at her Newcastle home on the night of the NRL grand final in September 2018.
It was the second time a NSW District Court jury has convicted Hayne of sexual assault charges.
The former NRL star is on bail until he is sentenced in May – when a prison sentence is certain.
Following the guilty verdict, Dirani shared a bizarre rant to Instagram on Wednesday, comparing Hayne’s case to the rapper Tupac Shakur.
He claimed the victim’s story ‘didn’t make any sense’ and said the case was ‘built on fabrication and scorn’.
Firass Dirani has defended convicted rapist Jarryd Hayne in a bizarre Instagram post, sensationally claiming the fallen footballer was ‘framed’
Following the guilty verdict, Dirani, an Australian actor who’s starred in Underbelly, shared a nonsensical rant to Instagram on Wednesday, comparing Hayne’s case to the rapper Tupac Shakur
”Black athlete takes p****y” is what they want you to believe,’ he wrote, assumed to be in reference to Hayne’s Fijian heritage.
‘We couldn’t catch him on the field, let’s frame him in court. Reminds me of the Tupac case.
‘I say it how I see it.’
Tupac Shakur was charged with sexually assaulting a then 19-year-old woman in 1993 at a hotel in New York.
He denied the accusation but was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse and spent nine months behind bars.
It is the latest controversy to hit Dirani, who has previously caused outrage with his conspiracy theories.
He came under fire in December after he shared a bizarre take on the horrific murders of Queensland cops Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, linking their deaths with a Covid conspiracy theory which claims the pandemic was planned.
Dirani bizarrely suggested that the killers were driven mad by Covid-19, and that the ‘plandemic’ disturbed people’s brains.
Hayne is facing up to 14 years behind bars but he was allowed to return to his home on the Central Coast with his wife before going into custody
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Dirani implicated Covid lockdowns as a possible factor in the shooting.
‘I’m commenting that mental health could be the issue in this mass shooting. Motivated by two years of long lockdowns, and lies’ he said.
He was widely criticised for the comments, with 2GB host Mark Levy leading the anger.
‘Here’s a tip for you, Firass Dirani: stick to learning your lines and sitting in the makeup chair, mate. Because while you’re pretending to shoot people and carry on like a criminal in Underbelly, these officers are dealing with the real crims on the streets,’ he said.
Dirani also caused anger during his stint on SAS Australia, ruffling feathers on his very first day.
Things came to a head during a task when Dirani disappeared, putting his teammates ‘in danger’.
‘There is no real room for somebody to not play the team game, you need to look after people… Firass is very selfish, he is very self involved and that started to effect the group,’ Merrick Watts said when discussing the actor.
Former Channel 10 executive Rob Knight did not mince his words while speaking about Firass Dirani (pictured) – branding the 36-year-old as ‘unemployable’ and claiming his actions on SAS Australia have ‘killed his TV career’
Dirani infamously claimed to Daily Mail Australia that his co-star Shannan Ponton (pictured) was a ‘redneck’ and a ‘culture vulture’ for having Maori tattoos, after The Biggest Loser trainer labelled him a ‘sociopath’ over his behaviour on the show
Dirani claimed to Daily Mail Australia that his co-star Shannan Ponton is a ‘redneck’ and a ‘culture vulture’ for having Maori tattoos, after The Biggest Loser trainer labelled him a ‘sociopath’ over his behaviour on the show.
The actor also blasted Mr Watts during an explosive live interview on The Kyle and Jackie O show – where he accused the comedian of ‘trying to baby’ him during filming.
Following his stint on the show, former Channel 10 executive Rob Knight did not mince his words while speaking about the actor – branding the 36-year-old actor as ‘unemployable’ and claiming his actions on and off the show have ‘killed his TV career’.
In a scathing opinion piece on TV Blackbox , Rob sensationally claimed Dirani has ‘blown it’ and is to blame for his ‘villain edit’ – because he ‘acted like an idiot’ on the show.
‘His antics on social media and in interviews has only provided further evidence that he is not a victim of the “villain edit”, but is simply facing the consequences of his own actions,’ he said of the Logie Award winning actor.
Jarryd Hayne and his wife Amellia Bonnici hold hands as the couple are swarmed by camera crews
Disgraced NRL star Hayne has now been found guilty of assaulting the woman twice, with Tuesday’s verdict marking the end of a third criminal trial against him.
He has won four more weeks of freedom as a judge continued his bail until his sentencing date, following a tearful plea from the ex-footballer’s wife.
Judge Turnbull heard threats had been made against Hayne on social media including taunts saying ‘big bubba is waiting’ and messages suggesting he will be raped ‘in the showers’.
Judge Turnbull refused a prosecution application to detain Hayne immediately in custody and continued his bail until his sentencing date, May 8, when he will be taken off to jail.
Hayne’s shock win of five extra weeks comes after a manager from Parklea Correctional Centre, Geraint Roberts, told the court that Hayne would likely be classified as a non-association inmate if he was locked up today – which meant being in maximum security.
Ms Bonnici broke down and wept as she addressed the court earlier, with it also revealed in court that Hayne and his wife have been bombarded with threatening messages, including to her personal Facebook page.
When he decided to grant Hayne a bail extension, Judge Turnbull said there were particular ‘health conditions’ Ms Bonnici was facing in the present time.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk