Actor and singer Jussie Smollett is engaged to partner Jabari Redd. Smollett took to his Instagram on Friday, June 20, 2025, to share a post celebrating his now-fiancé saying “yes” to him.
The post features a carousel of images from the proposal, including one zoom-in of the band. The Mighty Ducks star added the caption:
“I’ll be spending my birthday with my Fiancé… He said YES.”
Redd is an actor best known for appearing in the Showtime original coming-of-age drama The Chi. He is also credited as a producer for music videos like Soulja Boy’s Rick and Morty and Corey Taylor’s Beyond.
As the news of their engagement went viral, internet users were quick to react to the same. Referencing Jussie Smollett’s false hate crime report in 2019 (a police investigation found the assault was staged), one wrote:
“On the same street that he staged his robbery? Cute.”
Many continued to allude to Smollett’s assault hoax, commenting that they did not believe the proposal was real.
There were a few who came to the actor’s defence.
“Welcome to the family Jabari”- Jussie Smollett’s family and close friends congratulate the actor and his fiancé
Jussie Smollett and Jabari Redd have kept their private lives away from the public eye. However, the pair starred in the 2024 drama The Lost Holliday, which Jussie also co-wrote and directed.
Jussie Smollett’s sister Jazz congratulated the pair in the comments section of the post. She wrote:
“Yaaaass!!! Welcome to the family Jabari!!! Love y’all!! Sooooo happy for you both!”
Actress Jurnee, his younger sister, also wished the couple well, writing:
“Screaming with tears of joy! My whole heart loves both of you @jussiesmollett. Welcome to the family @jabariredd.”
Meanwhile, the actor’s Empire co-star Taraji P. Henson, too, expressed her excitement at the news.
Jussie Smollett made headlines in January 2019 after he filed a report claiming he was a victim of a hate crime. According to People magazine, at the time, he alleged that while returning home after grabbing a meal at Subway, two men attacked him. He claimed that they yelled racist and homophobic slurs, put a rope around his neck, and doused him in bleach.
It is worth noting that Jussie Smollett came out in March 2015 during his appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Following an investigation, police found that the actor had paid two work acquaintances (also brothers) to stage the assault. Initially, prosecutors dropped the charges after reaching a deal with Jussie, which included community service and $10,000 in bond money.
However, Smollett was re-indicted. In December 2021, a grand jury found the actor guilty on five felony counts of disorderly conduct for making false reports to investigators. Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, $25,000 in fines, and a payment of $120,000 to the city in restitution.
Eventually, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed Smollett’s conviction, stating that retrying the actor after he paid $10,000 and served community service in exchange for dismissal of all charges “violat(ed)” his right to “due process.”
In an Instagram post shared in May 2025, Jussie Smollett continued to claim his innocence but acknowledged it “will not change” anyone’s mind. Noting that he chose to “move forward,” he wrote:
“(While) the case will now be dismissed, I’m aware that it will not change everyone’s mind about me or the attack I experienced.”
At the time, he donated an additional $10,000 to the Chicago Torture Justice Center, an organization that aims to provide reparations for survivors of police torture.
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Edited by Arunava Dutta
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