Jussie Smollett: “Empire” star announces his engagement

The American actor Jussie Smollett (43) is engaged. He announced on Friday that he made a marriage proposal to his friend Jabari Redd. “I will spend my birthday with my fiance … he said yes,” writes the former “Empire” star about a series of pictures that documents the application. He celebrates his 43rd birthday on June 21.

The photos show different moments of the application: Smollett kneels down on the street in front of a restaurant in front of Redd and gives him the ring before the couple hugs and hits. The congratulations are increasing in the comments and Smollets family also reacts positively to the news. His sister, actress Jiree Smollett (38), writes, for example: “Welcome to the family.” His other sister Jazz Smollett (45), also in the film industry, also publicly congratulated the couple.

Jabari Redd is like his fiance and his sisters. The two men worked together in Smollets film “The Lost Holliday” in 2024 and played a couple. Already in 2015, Smollett outed himself as homosexual in the talk show by Ellen Degeneres (67).

Jussie Smollett was seen as a Jamal Lyon in the Fox series “Empire” from 2015 to 2019. The series ran five seasons long and made it known internationally. He finally attracted special attention in 2019 when he claimed to have become the victim of a racist -motivated attack. However, the public prosecutor accused him of staging the incident. The series actor was convicted in 2021, but the judgment was lifted in November 2024 by Illinois. The court justified this with procedural errors.

After the legal problems, the 43-year-old withdrew largely from the public and focused on projects behind the camera. With “The Lost Holliday”, where he also directed, Smollett 2024 returned to the film industry.