An honest approach. Over the years, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been transparent about their evolving marriage and the bumps in the road.
Smith and Pinkett Smith’s relationship made waves in June 2020 when August Alsina claimed that he was recently in a relationship with the Scream 2 star. At the time, the singer noted that Smith was aware of his connection with his wife.
One month later, the Girls Trip actress addressed her “entanglement” with Alsina. “Yes, it was a relationship, absolutely. I was in a lot of pain, and I was very broken,” she revealed on Red Table Talk in July 2020. “Now in the process of that relationship, I definitely realized that you can’t find happiness outside of yourself.”
The Suicide Squad star, who joined Pinkett Smith on the talk show, also confirmed that they were through a brief separation. “I was done with your ass. I was done with you,” he joked at the time, referring to a split in 2015. “Marriages have that, though. We decided that we were going to separate for a period of time, and you go figure out how to make yourself happy and I’ll try to figure out how to make myself happy. I really felt like we could be over.”
That same month, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that discussing their issues in an open forum brought the couple to a better place.
“The Smiths as a family are really glad they addressed this and put everything out in the open,” the insider explained. “Will and Jada, at the end of the day, are like a normal couple who just happen to be glorified because they’re famous. They have fought. They have reconciled. At the end of the day, they do love each other.”
The Philadelphia native later elaborated on when monogamy was explored in his marriage. “Jada never believed in conventional marriage … Jada had family members that had an unconventional relationship,” Smith, who has been married to Pinkett Smith since 1997, told GQ in September 2021. “So she grew up in a way that was very different than how I grew up.”
Smith noted that their expectations in their relationship changed as they got older. “There were significant endless discussions about, what is relational perfection?” he continued. “And for the large part of our relationship, monogamy was what we chose, not thinking of monogamy as the only relational perfection.”
Amid further speculation of cheating, Smith shut down assumptions from people who weren’t familiar with the couple. “Never. There’s never been infidelity in our marriage,” he said on CBS Sunday Morning, noting that the pair “talk about everything” with one another. “And we have never surprised one another with anything ever.”
For the I am Legend star, communication helped led him and Pinkett Smith to a better place.
“But the heart and soul of our union was then, and is still today, intense, luminescent conversation. Even to the writing of this very sentence, if Jada and I begin a conversation, it is a minimum two-hour endeavor. And it is not uncommon that we talk for five or six hours at a stretch,” he wrote in his memoir, which was released in November 2021. “Our joy of pondering and pursuing the mysteries of the universe, through the mirror of each other’s experience, is unbridled ecstasy. Even in the depths of disagreement, there is nothing in this world that either of us more cherishes or enjoys than the opportunity to grow and learn from each other through passionate communication.”
In March 2022, Smith raised eyebrows when he slapped Chris Rock during the 94th annual Academy Awards after Rock joked about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. The Hitch star hit Rock before yelling, “Keep my wife’s name out your f—king mouth.”
The incident had Hollywood divided, with some stars questioning Smith’s reaction and others defending him for standing up for his wife. Pinkett Smith, for her part, rolled her eyes at Rock’s joke after being candid about her alopecia diagnosis since 2018.
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Scroll down for everything other stars have said about Pinkett Smith and Smith’s marriage:
Chris Rock Speaks Out About Will Smith’s Oscars Slap During Netflix Stand-Up Special, Jokes About Jada Pinkett Smith’s Entanglement
Credit: Kirill Bichutsky/Netflix
Chris Rock
“We all been cheated on. Everybody in this industry has been cheated on,” Rock said about the pair’s “entanglement” drama during his March 2023 live show on Netflix. “None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television. Why the f—k would you do that s—t? She hurt him way more than he hurt me, OK?”
Every Time Celebrities Talked About Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith Marriage August Alsina
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August Alsina
In response to Pinkett Smith calling their past relationship an “entanglement,” the songwriter told Vulture, “If you look up the definition of ‘entanglement,’ it is a complex and difficult relationship. It was exactly that. I think it’s just the language that probably stuck out to people.”
He added: “But I definitely have to agree with it being an entanglement. It definitely was something complicated, a complicated dynamic.”
Every Time Celebrities Talked About Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith Marriage Nia Long
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Nia Long
Shortly after Pinkett Smith and Smith addressed their ups and downs, the Dear White People alum came to their defense.
“I feel bad for Will and Jada right now, because they’ve been extremely vulnerable with their personal story. And it takes a lot of courage to do that,” Long told Entertainment Tonight in July 2020. “When you have a show like Red Table Talk, you want to be what you are sharing with the world, and that’s gotta be a tremendous amount of pressure. Love is a complicated thing.”
Every Time Celebrities Talked About Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith Marriage Alfonso Ribeiro
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Alfonso Ribeiro
“I have not stayed in contact during this incredibly awkward time,” Smith’s former costar exclusively told Us in July 2020. “I will wait for things to settle back down, and then I will reach out and just say, ‘Hey guys, I love you.'”
Every Time Celebrities Talked About Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith Marriage Willow Smith
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Willow Smith
After Pinkett Smith got candid about her marriage, her daughter praised her vulnerable approach.
“I want to put it on the table. I’m so proud of you. To be able to see you and Dad do that, for me, that was like, ‘OK, that’s the real deal. That’s real love,'” Willow told her mother during an episode of Red Table Talk in September 2020. When you can be like, ‘I’m with you, I’m going to stand by you and I’m going to hold your hand because I love you.’ That’s really important.”
Every Time Celebrities Talked About Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith Marriage Laverne Cox
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Laverne Cox
In February 2022, the Orange Is the New Black alum brought up Pinkett Smith and Will’s comments about their marriage.
“We love you. Thank you for all the years of joy you’ve brought us,” the E! pre-show host said ahead of the SAG Awards. “We can’t wait for more Red Table Talk and more entanglements.”
The twosome laughed off the joke before Pinkett Smith responded, “No more of those.”
Cox replied, “No more entanglements! I love you, girl. I’m just kidding. I’m just joshing you.”
Every Time Celebrities Talked About Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith Marriage Regina Hall
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Regina Hall
During the 2022 Oscars, Hall introduced a bit where she invited single actors on stage while pretending that their COVID-19 tests got lost. “Will Smith, you’re married, but you’re on the list,” the host teased. “Looks like Jada approved it! Get on up here.”
Will gestured that he wouldn’t be joining Hall on stage while his wife laughed at the joke.
Every Time Celebrities Talked About Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith Marriage Lamar Odom
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Lamar Odom
In response to Will slapping Rock at the 2022 Oscars, the former athlete wrote via Instagram, “He loves his wife. I do not condone violence against anyone. @willsmith loves @jadapinkettsmith. I was told love covers a multitude of sins.♥️… Had I protected my wife [ex Khloé Kardashian] versus mentally, emotionally and spiritually hurting her, I may still be married.”
Every Time Celebrities Talked About Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith Marriage Tiffany Haddish
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Tiffany Haddish
The comedian also weighed in on Will’s altercation at the Academy Awards, telling the Los Angeles Times, “I think Chris was messy. “As a woman who had a husband, I wish my husband would have stood up for me the way Will stood up for Jada. That’s what every woman wants, right? She was hurt. And he protected his wife. And that’s what a man is supposed to do.”
