Jurnee Smollett Defends Brother Jussie Smollett: I Love My Brother & I Believe Him!

Jussie Smollett and Jurnee Smollett-Bell

Jurnee Smollett Defends Her Brother Jussie: I Love My Brother And I Believe Him!

Actress Jurnee Smollett defends her brother and ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett in a recent interview.  The 33 year old ‘Lovecraft Country’ actress discussed her upcoming HBO series as well as the Black Lives Matter movement that is rapidly sweeping across the country in response to the senseless murders of unarmed black men and women. However, Jurnee Smollett also addressed the controversy surrounding her brother Jussie Smollett’s current legal battles with the city of Chicago as they are suing him for $130k to recover investigative costs they incurred during an alleged staged attack that they claim he faked. See the video of the attack below.

Now, Jurnee is defending her older brother in this latest interview, stating that the situation has been difficult for their family,

“It’s been f****ng painful. 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. I was already in a very dark space for a number of reasons, and I’ve tried to not let it make me pessimistic. But everyone who knows me knows that I love my brother and I believe my brother.”

Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Smollett is limited in what she can say in defense of her brother because of the ongoing legal battle, however she still finds a way to defend Jussie Smollett and talked about how their family is trying to get through this rough time.

She describes how “maddening” it is for someone so outspoken to be told she “can’t talk,” and how horrific the whole ordeal has been for her fiercely close family. Still, the actress says that defending her brother has not impacted her professionally, arguing instead that she has felt supported, 

“We are blessed to have a community of people who know him, and know that he wouldn’t do this.”

In terms of the future, the 33 year old actress is looking to count on her family’s resilience as well as Jussie’s resilience to get through this trying time,

 “I mean, f**k, man, I look at him [Jussie] sometimes and I’m like, ‘He’s so strong.’ ” 

Jurnee revealed that Jussie has moved in with her, following her divorce filing to check on her. When asked how Jussie has been spending his time, she says that he’s been staying creative and doing some “singing, writing, and working on music.”

Jussie Smollett, Osundairo Brothers

Back in June, it was revealed that the Osundairo brothers will be taking the stand against Jussie in the ongoing case related to the January 2019 incident.

Abel and Ola Osundairo, who told Chicago police that Jussie paid them $3,500 to stage the January 2019 attack against him previously refused to testify against the “Empire” actor.

The Osundairo brothers called out Chicago police and said that they have not received the items that were taken when their home was raided in February 2019 as a part of the investigation into the attack on Jussie. One of the items was a 9mm gun, which their lawyer, Gloria Schmidt Rodriguez, said has since been found. She said in a statement,

“Due to the intervention of Special Prosecutor Dan Webb and his team, earlier today we were informed that a properly registered 9mm handgun that was missing from a locked safe seized by the Chicago Police Department on February 14, 2019, has been located.”

She continued,

Abel Osundairo previously spoke on the missing items and said,

“It’s been over a year and they need to give us our stuff back, I would understand if we were defendants in the case, which we are not.”

He added,

“Most of the stuff isn’t even mine, they belong to my oldest brother, my mother, my sister. They even took my dog’s toy. Of course I’m skeptical, because you are saying one thing one day and another thing another day, it’s just another thing we have to go through.”

Jussie Smollett, Osundairo Brothers