Will Smith is opening up about how his marriage to Jada Pinkett-Smith has evolved over the years.
The two have been married for 23 years and over the past year, there have been speculations about certain details of their relationship.
In July of last year, Jada and Will sat down together on Red Table Talk and confronted rumors of an affair between Jada and August Alsina – the 50-year-old actress revealed that there had been a time five or so years ago when she and Will went through a rough patch and decided to separate. It was during that time that she admitted she “got into a different kind of entanglement with August.” And when she and Will decided to give their relationship another shot, August decided to “break all communication.”
At the time, she also made it clear that she didn’t keep it from her husband. “The one thing I’ll say about you and I is that there has never been secrets,” she told Will, to which he responded, “We came together young and were both broken in our own ways. To be able to make mistakes without the fear of losing your family is so critical.”
In a recent interview with GQ, Will was asked why they felt it was important to do that episode.
“The pursuit of truth is the only way to be happy in this lifetime,” he explained. “And we sort of came to the agreement that authenticity was the release from the shackles of fame and public scrutiny.”
He also went on to reveal that while he and Jada “chose” monogamy “for the large part of our relationship,” as they found their way as a couple, they later realized that “marriage can’t be a prison.”
“Jada never believed in conventional marriage,” Will told the magazine. “Jada had family members that had an unconventional relationship. So she grew up in a way that was very different than how I grew up. There were significant endless discussions about, what is relational perfection? What is the perfect way to interact as a couple? And for the large part of our relationship, monogamy was what we chose, not thinking of monogamy as the only relational perfection.”
The RTT episode has left viewers wondering about their stance on non-monogamy. According to the interviewer, Will “delicately explained” that it goes both ways in their relationship.
“We have given each other trust and freedom, with the belief that everybody has to find their own way. And marriage for us can’t be a prison,” he said of their arrangement, adding, “And I don’t suggest our road for anybody. I don’t suggest this road for anybody. But the experiences that the freedoms that we’ve given one another and the unconditional support, to me, is the highest definition of love.”
Will also addressed the photo of him seemingly looking upset at the end of the RTT episode, which went viral online. He clarified that his expression was about something else entirely.
“It was midnight and we were going on vacation the next day,” he explained. “It was like, no, no, no, guys, I’m not sad. I’m f–king exhausted.”
