‘Match made in hell’: Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown dating jailed celeb who was engaged last month

The world grew more confusing this week when Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown was seemingly spotted with his new, controversial boyfriend, Jussie Smollett.

Jussie rose to fame on the hit show Empire, playing the groundbreaking role of Jamal Lyon. Praises were heaped on him for years for his depiction of a Black queer person, but then came the year 2019 – more on that later.

At the start of June, the actor called off his engagement to fellow actor Jabari Redd, and now he’s apparently in a new relationship with the TV host.

‘Queer Eye’ star Karamo Brown and Jussie Smollett are dating. (Via TMZ) pic.twitter.com/qZlBks0pDn

— Pop Tingz (@PopTingz) June 30, 2026

According to TMZ and the pictures it published, Jussie Smollett and Karamo Brown were spotted packing on the PDA in Los Angeles. At one point, Jussie cupped his boyf’s chin, the publication reported.

On Tuesday, Karamo appeared on the Reality With The King podcast, where he seemingly confirmed the romance.

“I am dating a celebrity,” he said. “It’s not like we’re hiding it. We go out. We hold hands everywhere.”

Jussie Smollett and Karamo Brown are a cursed pairing

Celebrity couples always have some lovers and some haters, but in the case of Jussie Smollett and Karamo Brown, it’s pretty damn negative.

“Not them maximising their joint messiness,” one person said.

THIS is how we’re ending Pride month? https://t.co/n3faEasvMw pic.twitter.com/oJJTYKv0ud

— Taylor Gray (@offtaylorgray) June 30, 2026

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Another wrote: “We don’t have time for this. There’s already so much going on.”

“Two stunt queens!!! Imagine trying to get a point across,” someone else said.

As for why people are put off, that’s a complicated question. In the case of Karamo, people have long dubbed him “insufferable” and annoying on Queer Eye, which he famously quit with shocking allegations of bullying.

The reason people dislike Jussie Smollett is a little more straightforward: His hate crime hoax.

Really thought this was Poo Crave but nope it's real https://t.co/tMexx2z4JH

— gore vidal sassoon (@GilroyMusic) June 30, 2026

In 2019, Jussie filed a police report claiming that he was physically attacked by people using racial and homophobic slurs. It soon emerged that he’d paid two work friends to assault him.

The whole situation got really messy, with convictions being overturned and retried numerous times before he was jailed for 150 days in 2022. Six days after being put behind bars, an Illinois appeals court ordered that he be released. The Illinois Supreme Court later overturned the conviction of the Empire star.

“I can understand why people feel the way that they do,” he said last year.

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Featured image credit: YouTube/FOX