Jussie Smollett siblings: All about his family as Jurnee and Jocqui Smollett extend support to brother after hate crime sentencing

Jurnee Smollett and Jocqui Smollett have claimed that their brother is innocent (Images via Amy Sussman and Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Jurnee Smollett and Jocqui Smollett have claimed that their brother is innocent (Images via Amy Sussman and Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

Jussie Smollett’s siblings have recently spoken up and given their opinions about his sentencing. While speaking to reporters outside the Chicago courthouse on March 10, they said that he was innocent and did not deserve the punishment. Jussie’s brother Jojo Smollett said:

“[The judge] shamed by brother, he spoke about his arrogance. He doesn’t know the struggles my brother is encountering. He doesn’t know anything that he’s dealing with. In 2022, we don’t shame people like this. Alright? He basically called him a mental case.”

The Empire star’s sister Jazz Smollett said that she believes her brother is innocent. She stated:

“This should not be a controversial statement because it is the absolute truth. What should be controversial is the entire miscarriage of justice his whole ordeal has been. I pray the peace of God over my brother and all victims of oppression and hate. I pray that we can do better as a world.”

The Alien: Covenant actor’s younger brother Jocqui Smollett said that Jussie was attacked and is now going to top jail for being attacked. He stated that the sentence discourages people from reporting hate crimes in the future and called his brother a survivor.


Siblings of Jussie Smollett

The 39-year-old has five siblings, including three brothers and two sisters – Jake, Jocqui, Jojo, Jurnee, and Jazz. Most of them are actors.

The eldest sibling Jojo is an actor mostly known for his appearance as Jimi Jerrico on ABC’s On Our Own. Born on August 28, 1977, Jojo is 44 years old.

Jazz made her debut with a role in the family sitcom On Our Own. She has helped her parents in raising her siblings as the eldest sister in the family. She has been married to producer Troy Warwell since 2012. The 41-year-old was born on April 1, 1980.

Born on October 1, 1986, Jurnee Bell is an actress. Josiah Bell was her partner and they also had a kid. She later filed for divorce and has rarely been active on Instagram in the last few months.

Jake is an actor and content developer working as a resident chef on The Rachel Ray Show. Jussie's youngest sibling, Jocqui, is a former child actor currently working as a data analyst manager at a cloud-based data-warehousing firm, Snowflake Computing. Born on August 2, 1994, he is 27 years old.


Jussie Smollett’s sentencing

Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in prison for lying to cops about being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. The sentence was ordered by Cook County Judge James Linn.

Jussie Smollett speaks to Judge James Linn after his sentence is read (Image via Brian Cassella/Getty Images)
Jussie Smollett speaks to Judge James Linn after his sentence is read (Image via Brian Cassella/Getty Images)

The singer also claimed that he was innocent. The judge also sentenced him to 30 months of felony probation and ordered him to pay $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago and a fine of $25,000.


Jussie Smollett’s attorneys read out letters from supporters who requested that the judge consider the impact of the case on Smollett’s life and career. They stated that he would be at risk in prison because of his race, s*xual orientation, and his family’s Jewish heritage.

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Linn had rejected a motion from the defense to overturn the jury’s verdict on legal grounds. Experts believed that he would not be sent to prison since he did not have a criminal history and the charges were for a low-level non-violent crime.