Jada Pinkett Smith‘s latest revelations about her marriage to Will Smith are shocking the couple’s wealth of fans, and forcing people to reexamine their relationship.
The Smiths’ have been rocky for years now, with several painfully public moments highlighting the struggles they were enduring. Back in 2020, widespread reports of an affair between Pinkett Smith and August Alsina took the web by storm, particularly following news that Will Smith reportedly approved of their coupling. Rumors of an open marriage have persisted for years, following a 2013 comment from Pinkett Smith, so the news didn’t necessarily come as a surprise, but later muddying of the details, paired with Smith’s infamous outburst at the 2022 Oscars, puts the Smith family in a strange spotlight. People aren’t entirely sure what to believe, but we’ll rely on the words of Pinkett Smith and her husband, both of whom have spoken out about their unconventional marriage at several points.
First was Pinkett Smith, whose aforementioned 2013 comments sparked a firestorm of rumors about her marriage. After stating in an interview that she told Will “You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay,” people reasonably assumed the two were in an open marriage. Those assumptions were soon turned on their head, after Pinkett Smith took to Facebook, not long after the interview, to proclaim that she and Smith were in a “grown” relationship built on trust. She clarified that both she and Smith are free, in their marriage, to do “whatever” they want, but that that freedom seemingly doesn’t expand to other partners.
But then, a twist. Alsina came forward, in 2020, to claim that he and Pinkett Smith were in an adulterous relationship, but one that Smith signed off on. Pinkett Smith quickly denied these claims, but later clarified that, while she and Alsina were in fact engaged in an “entanglement,” Smith was unaware. That’s because, at the time, the pair were separated.
That separation started in 2016, and — according to Pinkett Smith’s most recent comments, which we’ll dig deeper into below — seemingly never stopped. Some of Pinkett Smith’s comments on Red Table Talk may have led fans to believe the pair’s separation ended several years back, but that may not be the case.
This really shouldn’t come as a surprise, given Pinkett Smith’s previous comments on the couple’s marriage, paired with a 2021 quote from Smith. He noted, in an interview with GQ, that “Jada never believed in conventional marriage.” He added that they “have given each other trust and freedom” in their marriage, and that — while this method may not work for everyone — it works for them. Once again, this sparked rumors of an open marriage.
Until Pinkett Smith’s most recent revelations, that is. Pinkett Smith recently clarified that she and Smith have reportedly been separated — but not divorced — since 2016. That means that any rumored relationships between either half of the couple and alternate partners were far less controversial than many of us initially believed. It’s still a thoroughly confusing situation, however, with the pair still frequently presenting themselves as a couple.
But it seems the Smiths have long known what they were about. The rest of us may not understand, and we all have our thoughts on both halves of the pair, but — looking back at their comments over the years — this has been in the works for a while. Given that they agreed, so long ago, to let each other do “whatever” they want, it seems they figured out the details of their unique marriage a good decade back. The rest of us may be confused, but its really got nothing to do with us, in the end.