LAX Goodbye: Jussie Smollett and Karamo Brown's Airport PDA Confirms New Romance

Sometimes the most authentic declarations of romance happen in the most unglamorous settings. Jussie Smollett and Karamo Brown, the former Queer Eye star, just made their relationship official in the way that matters most to Los Angeles: a passionate goodbye kiss at LAX’s curb.

The pair were spotted this week at the airport sealing their farewell with PDA that photographers couldn’t resist capturing. Karamo had luggage in hand—he was heading out—while Jussie stayed behind in L.A. They hugged, they kissed, and then Karamo headed inside to catch his flight. It’s the kind of scene that speaks volumes without needing a single word. This wasn’t a casual goodbye between acquaintances; this was the real deal.

The timing here is worth noting. Jussie and Karamo are moving full steam ahead in their relationship, only weeks after Jussie ended his engagement with Jabari Red in early June. That’s a quick pivot, but Karamo’s already been vocal about his feelings—he’s been telling anyone who’ll listen on podcasts that Jussie is the one. When you’re broadcasting that kind of certainty to the public, an airport goodbye kiss feels less like a moment of passion and more like a statement.

There’s something almost poetic about how public this has become. In a town where people live half their lives in airport terminals, dropping your partner off or picking them up is its own kind of love language. No fancy restaurant dinner, no Instagram-curated date night—just two people who wanted to be together until the very last possible second. The fact that it all happened in front of the cameras only adds to the sense that this romance is exactly what Karamo and Jussie want people to see: real, unguarded, and unmistakably serious.