All About Jussie Smollett's 5 Siblings (Who Starred on a '90s Sitcom Together)

Jussie Smollett comes from a talented family.

The Empire alum has 5 siblings: JoJo, Jazz, Jurnee, Jake and Jocqui. All six children were calved to Joel and Janet Smollett, who met during a civilian authorities campaign, per The New York Times. 

Jussie and his siblings moved astir a batch arsenic kids arsenic they took connected various modeling and acting gigs. In fact, Jurnee’s breakout domiciled connected Full House astatine property 4 paved nan measurement for each of her siblings to prima alongside her successful nan 1994 ABC sitcom On Our Own.

In January 2019, Jussie claimed he was nan unfortunate of a dislike crime, alleging that 2 men yelled racist and homophobic slurs astatine him, past put a noose astir his cervix and doused him pinch bleach. A rule enforcement investigation alleged Jussie staged nan attack, and successful 2021, he was found guilty of 5 felony counts of disorderly behaviour for making mendacious reports to investigators. He was sentenced to 150 days successful prison, but was released arsenic he appealed. The Supreme Court of Illinois overturned his convictions successful November 2024. The incident is nan taxable of nan Netflix docuseries The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, which premiered connected Aug. 22.

Both Jussie and his siblings person maintained his innocence. In an August 2020 question and reply pinch The Hollywood Reporter, Jurnee said nan ordeal has been “devastating” and “one of nan astir achy things my family's ever experienced.”

"Everyone who knows maine knows that I emotion my relative and I judge my brother," she said.

In September 2024, Jussie told PEOPLE that “the world would've swallowed maine full had it not been for my family."

Here is everything to cognize astir Jussie Smollett’s 5 siblings.

They grew up bicoastal

When nan Smolletts were increasing up, they traveled betwixt nan West and East Coast arsenic Jussie and his siblings took connected acting, modeling and euphony gigs. In an October 2020 question and reply pinch Essence, Jazz said that they moved 13 times and their parents built each their ain furnishings to prevention money.

“They didn’t person overmuch money astatine each erstwhile they started out, truthful they built each of their furniture, actually,” she said. “[Janet] built beds and our cribs and couches and artifact boxes. We moreover had a descent successful nan mediate of our chamber that she built retired of wood and sanded down.”

They in installments their mom pinch fostering a imaginative situation

Ultimately, 5 retired of six Smollett siblings are progressive successful nan intermezo industry. They in installments their mother, Janet, pinch stoking their passions.

“Creating was thing that we conscionable were expected to do,” Jusse told The New York Times. “You put connected shows — we had a full damn production, because we had each these kids. We were for illustration nan Swiss Family Robinson.”

Jurnee added that “everyone would person to get up and sing” during family parties, particularly connected Mother’s Day.

Jurnee landed her breakout domiciled connected Full House astatine 4

Jurnee modeled arsenic an infant, but she roseate to prominence arsenic a kid character successful nan early ’90s. "At a twelvemonth old, she was for illustration a operation of Diana Ross and Elizabeth Taylor," Jussie told The New York Times. "She was leader from nan beginning." 

At 4, Jurnee landed a recurring domiciled connected ABC’s Full House, successful which she played Michelle Tanner’s champion friend Denise. In August 2021, Jurnee told The Hollywood Reporter the sitcom “was specified awesome training for me” and instilled “confidence and freedom.”

“There’s a procreation of young girls, women of color, who person many times expressed to maine [that they] didn’t spot galore young brownish girls, young Black girls connected TV during that time. Growing up pinch an image of a woman whose hairsbreadth was curly, you know, it had an effect connected them,” she said. “I’m appreciative of and grateful for that.”

Since then, Jurnee has acted successful projects for illustration Lovecraft Country, Smoke, The Order and The Burial. She besides worked alongside Jussie successful nan WGN bid Underground.

They person collaborated connected respective TV projects

After Full House ended successful 1994, ABC offered Jurnee her ain show On Our Own, starring each six Smolletts arsenic orphaned siblings. Although nan sitcom only lasted 1 season, Jurnee said, “it was for illustration heaven.”

“We each were successful nan aforesaid schoolhouse trailer. We would eat basking links and bagels for meal each greeting — very Black and Jewish of us,” she told The New York Times.

Despite agelong days connected set, nan siblings didn’t conflict — a life instruction their parents ingrained successful them astatine a very young age. "We get on really well," JoJo told nan Los Angeles Times successful September 1994. "People opportunity it's amazing. We've been brought up to cull conflict. We deliberation it's a discarded of clip to conflict and argue." 

In 2016, nan siblings reunited for their first on-screen task successful decades, battling 1 different successful a bid of cooking-related challenges for nan Food Network bid Smollett Eats. It paved nan measurement for their first collaborative family cookbook, The Family Table, which was published successful 2018.

As for really their culinary skills stack up against another, Jake is “king of nan grill,” according to Jazz.

“I tin cook really good and I’m nan legume queen. Red beans and ham hocks, achromatic beans and coconut rice, lentils, legumes…I emotion beans,” she told Essence in October 2020. “Jurnee’s really bully pinch utilizing different spices and she loves making a batch of different broadside dishes.”

Jake is simply a master cook

After starring successful projects for illustration Eve’s Bayou and The Middleman, Jake became a master chef. His talents person landed him connected The Rachael Ray Show and Sherri, arsenic good arsenic a judge connected Chopped Junior, The Chew and Save nan Leftovers. 

He has attributed his occurrence to his mom, who fostered his emotion of cooking.

“At an early age, [cooking] became an arena because my mom is ace festive. Naturally, I wanted to get successful location pinch her,” he told Mocha Man Style successful August 2018. “I was capable to springiness backmost to my family and spot nan happiness connected their faces erstwhile you make immoderate crazy crockery that’s impressive.”

Jocqui useful successful tech and information analytics

Jocqui, meanwhile, graduated from nan University of California Santa Cruz pinch a double awesome successful world economics and mathematics, according to his LinkedIn. He spent 7 months arsenic a assemblage investigation adjunct earlier landing roles astatine Plantronics and SurveyMonkey. 

In 2018, he joined AI information patient Snowflake, wherever he useful arsenic a strategy and ops manager.

Jazz and Jake person their ain location betterment show

In 2019, Jazz and Jake launched their location betterment show Living By Design on CLEO TV. The bid — which renovates spaces for millennial families — blends Jazz’s oculus for design, Jake’s woodworking skills and their associated emotion for cooking.

“She’ll creation nan space, and past I build a civilization portion per section for nan abstraction aliases refurbish. And past I navigator nan meal, and she makes nan dessert,” Jake told Salon successful September 2019. “It’s conscionable a nosy measurement to operation cooking and creation successful nan aforesaid show. And for me, it’s a dream to beryllium capable to build and navigator successful nan aforesaid show.”