Jussie Smollett's sister Jurnee breaks silence on his alleged attack: 'It's been f---ing painful'
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Jurnee Smollett has spoken out for the first time about the ongoing scandal surrounding her brother Jussie Smollett.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress made her first public comments on the controversy, which exploded last year when Jussie was accused of staging a hate crime against himself. The Empire star, who has maintained his innocence throughout the case, was dropped from the Fox show as a result of the scandal.
"It's been f---ing painful," Jurnee Smollett told THR, "one of the most painful things my family's ever experienced — to love someone as much as we love my brother, and to watch someone who you love that much go through something like this, that is so public, has been devastating." She also defended Jussie's innocence, adding, "Everyone who knows me knows that I love my brother and I believe my brother."
The case has been a long and complicated one, beginning in January 2019, when Smollett told police that two men attacked him while yelling racial and homophobic slurs. Prosecutors later charged Smollett with filing a false police report before abruptly dropping the charges in March 2019. In February, however, Smollett was indicted again on similar charges, alleging he made "four separate false reports to Chicago Police Department officers related to his false claims that he was the victim of a hate crime."
"I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one," Smollett said after the charges were dropped. "I would not be my mother's son if I was capable of one drop of what I have been accused of."
Jurnee Smollett said her brother, who has been largely out of the public eye of late, has been "staying creative, as creatives do" and briefly moved in with her following her divorce earlier this year. "I look at him sometimes and I'm like, 'He's so strong,'" she added.
The Smollett family has also stood by Jussie throughout the scandal, calling him "an innocent man whose name and character has been unjustly smeared" in a statement after the charges were dropped. "Jussie is a son, a brother, a partner, a champion for human rights, and a genuine soul who would never be capable of what he was falsely accused of," they continued. "We look forward to bringing the real perpetrators to justice."
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