After many years of speculation, Will Smith has finally come clean about his open marriage to fellow entertainer Jada Pinkett Smith. In his November cover story for GQ magazine, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” admitted that he and Jada don’t have a conventional marriage and have actually been free to explore other romantic partners throughout their relationship.
“Jada never believed in conventional marriage … 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,” Will told the publication. “There were significant endless discussions about, what is relational perfection? … And for the large part of our relationship, monogamy was what we chose, not thinking of monogamy as the only relational perfection.”
The famed actor then revealed that both of them “given each other trust and freedom” because they both agree that “can’t be a prison.”
“I don’t suggest our road for anybody. I don’t suggest this road for anybody,” he continued to spill. “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 confirmed that Jada’s “entanglement” with R&B singer/songwriter August Alsina was not the only extramarital affair that took place in their relationship. The GQ interviewer even wrote “that was not, Smith delicately explained to me, in fact the case” in their piece.
“The public has a narrative that is impenetrable,” Will said. “Once the public decides something, it’s difficult to impossible to dislodge the pictures and ideas and perceptions.”
Will and Jada married in 1997, but in 2020, their marriage made headlines when Jada and Alsina’s rendezvous was revealed. The singer would even drop a song titled “Entanglements” after news of their affair circulated across the internet.
“We did everything we could to get away from each other, only to realize that’s not possible,” Jada told Will during their “Red Table Talk” at the time. However, the married pair soon reunited.
She added, “Through that particular journey, I learned so much about myself and was really able to confront a lot of emotional immaturity, emotional insecurity — and I was really able to do some really deep healing.”