NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM
Jurnee Smollett-Bell has spoken about her brother’s alleged staged hate crime in a new interview, saying it’s been “painful” for their family.
The Birds Of Prey actress, who maintains her brother’s innocence, said the incident has been an ordeal for the whole family, and that she was already in “a very dark space” when it happened.
Her older brother Jussie was accused of orchestrating a racial hate crime in January 2019, to which he pleaded not guilty. The singer and actor told police that he was physically attacked outside his apartment building by two men in ski masks who used racial and homophobic slurs.
Despite his charges being dropped in March 2019 on condition of doing community service and forfeiting his bond, in February this year Jussie was indicted on six counts of lying to the Chicago Police Department. The legal battle is currently awaiting a ruling.
“It’s been fucking painful, one of the most painful things my family’s ever experienced,” Jurnee told The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”
She continued: “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 said that her brother has been singing, writing, and working on music during his time away from the show. “I mean, fuck, man, I look at him sometimes and I’m like, ‘He’s so strong,'” she added.
Meanwhile, Jurnee spoke to NME recently about her experience starring as the Black Canary in Suicide Squad spin-off Birds Of Prey.
Responding to the film’s poor box office performance despite thumbs up from fans and critics alike, Jurnee said: “I feel like the narrative that it became was kind of ludicrous. It’s not my job to pay attention to any of that stuff really, but the fans loved it and they’re still loving it.
“I also think people aren’t aware of the fact that in the grand scheme of the average comic book film, the budget wasn’t nearly as large as others. So I don’t think it’s so fair to compare it in that sense. Do the fans love it? Yes. Did the studio make its money back? Yes, job well done.”
The post Jurnee Smollett-Bell on brother Jussie’s public scandal: “It’s been fucking painful” appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
