Jussie Smollett spent last June posting a frame-by-frame proposal. He is spending this one single. The 43-year-old “Empire” star has called off his engagement to actor Jabari Redd, a “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” and “The Chi” actor, less than a year after he got down on one knee.
Smollett ended things within the last couple of weeks and is focused on his music career, sources told TMZ on Thursday. The couple had been engaged since June 2025.
He announced it on his birthday with a carousel that walked through the whole moment, writing, “I’ll be spending my birthday with my Fiancé… He said YES.” The post is gone now. Smollett and Redd, who co-starred in Smollett’s 2024 film “The Lost Holliday,” have not commented publicly.
Smollett has lived under public scrutiny for years. His 2021 conviction tied to a reported 2019 attack was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2024 on procedural grounds.
