Actress Jurnee Smollett has broken her silence about the ongoing legal woes of her actor-singer brother Jussie Smollett stemming from his 2019 allegedly self-inflicted hate attack.
In addition to learning his countersuit against the city of Chicago for ‘malicious prosecution’ was tossed out by a federal judge (click here to read more), he is readying a return to court to defend himself against six felony counts of charges related to disorderly conduct and filing false police reports.
Now, Jurnee is offering views into her thoughts about the process and why she stands in solidarity with the embattled ‘Empire’ star.
More inside:
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress made her first public comments on the controversy.
“It’s been f—ing painful,” Jurnee told ‘THR.’ “[It’s been] 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.”
Regarding his innocence, Jurnee said:
“Everyone who knows me knows that I love my brother and I believe my brother.”
And, while he’s remained out of the public eye mostly since That Grape Juice first broke the story of the hate attack in early 2019, Jussie -according to his sister – is still remaining creative behind-the-scenes.
“[He’s been] staying creative, as creatives do,” she said before adding he briefly moved in with her following her divorce earlier this year.