Underbelly actor shares bizarre defence of Jarryd Hayne

The Underbelly actor shared a post defending the fallen NRL star after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at her Newcastle home in 2018.

An Aussie actor has shared a bizarre post defending former NRL star Jarryd Hayne after he was convicted of sexual assault.

Hayne was found guilty of two counts of sexually assaulting a woman without her consent by a jury on Tuesday.

He has been released on bail over the Easter long weekend but is expected to face time behind bars when he returns to court in May.

It was the third time the Dally M winner has faced a trial over the same incident, and the second time he was found guilty.

While he claims the sexual encounter was entirely consensual, the jury accepted the woman’s version of events that she repeatedly said “no” and ”stop”.

On Wednesday night Underbelly actor Firass Dirani shared a post to his Instagram story claiming that Hayne had been “framed”.

Firass Dirani's claiming that Hayne had been ‘framed’. Picture: Instagram

The Underbelly actor has come under fire recently for comments on Covid-19 conspiracy theories. Picture: Instagram

He said the case “didn’t make any sense” to him and that it was “built on fabrication and scorn”.

“Black athlete takes p****y’’ is what they want you to believe,” he said.

“We couldn’t catch him on the field, let’s frame him in court.

“I say it how I see it.”

Jarryd Hayne (C) leaves the Downing Centre holding his wife's hand Amellia Bonnici in Sydney. Picture: NCA Newswire / Christian Gilles

He then went on to compare the case to that of American rapper Tupac Shakur who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a New York hotel in 1993.

He spent nine months in prison.

It is not the first time Dirani has come under fire of late for his controversial opinions on current affairs, sharing in December that he believed the killers who murdered Queensland cops Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold was due to Covid-19, and that the “plandemic” disturbed people’s brains. .

He compared Hayne’s conviction to that of Tupac. Picture: Instagram

He has come under fire for conspiracy theories in recent years. Picture: Instagram

He claimed the murderous trio who shot dead two young police officers and a neighbour had become unwell as a result of Covid-19.

“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 at the time.

He was slammed for his comments at the time.

2GB host Mark Levy erupted at the actor at the time, telling him to stick to acting.

“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...these officers are dealing with the real crims on the streets,” he said

Firass Dirani attends the Million Dollar Beard Ball at the Ivy ballroom on May 13, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)

He also sparked backlash during his stint on SAS Australia with former Channel 10 executive Rob Knight labelling the actor as “unemployable” for his behaviour on and off 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 found himself depicted as the “villan” on the show, butting heads with his co-stars.

During the show he “disappeared” during a task, putting his “teammates in danger”.

Fellow cast member comedian Merrick Watts called him “selfish” for his actions.

“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 affect the group,” he said.

During a press tour after the show Mr Dirani blasted his fellow castmates, calling co-star Shannan Ponton is a “redneck” and accusing Mr Watts of trying to “baby him”.

Speaking to The Morning Show, he explained that he went on the show “to have fun and to kind of exercise and challenge my limits; psychologically, physically — and see where it goes”.

“I’m a larrikin, I’m a jokester, I kinda like to keep it buoyant and alive and a lot of people lost their sense of humour in there,” he said.