Jussie Smollett Brother Claims Family Received a ‘Very Evil, Threatening Phone Call

Jojo Smollett, the brother of Jussie Smollett — who was sentenced to 150 days in jail for lying to police after orchestrating a racist and homophobic attack against himself — says his family has received a threatening phone call.

“We see a lot of hate mail online, on social media,” Jojo Smollett told NBC 5 Chicago. “And being a celebrity with a long history, Jussie has received a lot of hate mail, and many of my family members have received hate mail and hate speech directed toward us.”

“But this was a very morbid-sounding message,” the actor’s brother added. “Unadulterated evil. It was pure evil. The tone of it, and the intention behind it.”

The purported message reads as follows:

Hi, this is n***** lives matter. I hope what they do to that guy in jail… here’s what they’re gonna do, right? They’re gonna take a [redacted] and take that little [expiative], shove it in there and he’s gonna go [noise with laughter].

“That message was very morbid, very evil, very dark, and very petulant,” Jojo Smollett reiterated.

In January 2019, Smollett had claimed he was physically attacked by two men wearing red hats who put a rope around his neck, poured bleach on him, and shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him, before eventually yelling, “This is MAGA country!” — referring to former President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan.

During the actor’s trial, prosecutors showed how the former Empire actor had gone through extraordinary lengths to stage the hate crime against himself, and how he hired and paid Nigerian brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo $3,500 to carry out the attack.

On Thursday, Judge James Linn sentenced Smollett to 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation, restitution of $120,106, and a fine of $25,000, following a December 2021 conviction for lying to police.

While being hauled off to jail on Thursday, the actor repeatedly shouted, “I am not suicidal, and I am innocent” with his fist raised.

On Saturday, Smollett’s brother Jocqui Smollett revealed that the actor has been placed in a psych ward at the Cook County jail.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.