Jaden Smith was eight years old when the world first discovered his name. The young actor made his feature film debut in The Pursuit of Happiness alongside his famous father, Will Smith. Since then he’s climbed the ranks of fame and dipped his toes into various entertainment waters such as fashion and rapping, the latter of which he is predominantly known for now.
As he’s gotten older, Jaden Smith has grown more vocal about his identity, from the way he dresses to his sexual orientation. Because the actor hasn’t explicitly labeled himself one identity or another, fans have been left to fill in the gaps. For that reason, the question surrounding his sexual orientation has remained largely unanswered, leaving the whole subject of it even more intriguing. Here’s what we know about the matter.
Is Jaden Smith a member of the LGBTQ+ community?
Jaden Smith has been linked to a range of celebrities over the years, most notably Sab Zada, Odessa Adlon, Sarah Snyder, and Kylie Jenner. But the name that raised the most eyebrows was not from a female-identifying woman, but that of his fellow rapper, Tyler, the Creator.
The driving catalyst for dating rumors between Tyler, the Creator and Smith originated from Smith himself in 2018. The young rapper was performing at Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival music festival when he got up on stage and publicly declared a romantic relationship with his fellow rapper.
“I just wanna say Tyler, the Creator is the best friend in the world and I love him so f**king much. And I wanna tell you guys something, I wanna tell you, Tyler doesn’t want to say, but Tyler’s my mother f**king boyfriend! And he’s been my mother f**king boyfriend my whole f**king life…Tyler, the Creator is my f**king boyfriend! It’s true!”
Smith’s desire to shout his love from the rooftops carried on for many years. Following the 2018 concert he tweeted “Yup @tylerthecreator I Told Everyone You Can’t Deny It Now,” and two years later in 2020 he tweeted “My Boyfriend Just Won A Grammy.”
In the time span of those two years Smith posted various tweets alluding to his relationship with Tyler, the Creator, such as random photos of the rapper without captions and one-off tweets simply saying “I love you.”
Since Smith’s initial declaration of love, fans have speculated whether Smith is indeed gay or simply a part of the LGBTQ+ community in another way. He has never officially elaborated on the matter, choosing instead to go the route of many celebrities in this day and age and keep his personal life private. That being said, in 2016 he launched the fashion line MSFTS, telling Variety the line was made for “the girl that wants to be a tomboy or the boy that wants to wear a skirt,” so his sexuality was already a topic of conversation by the time Tyler, the Creator rolled around.
It’s still unclear whether Smith was being sincere when he called Tyler, The Creator his boyfriend. It very well could have been a running joke between the two. Neither he or Tyler, the Creator have officially commented on the dating rumors or publicly addressed their sexual orientation.
As it stands, Smith is romantically linked to Sab Zada, with whom he was spotted at Disneyland on Valentine’s Day in 2022. Tyler, the Creator has had no official dating rumors since Smith called him his boyfriend, and because Smith hasn’t publicly labeled his sexual orientation, labels like “gay”, “straight”, or “bisexual” are merely speculation. Whether or not he’s a member of the LGBTQ+ community is still largely unknown.