Smith’s Dissociation – A Closer Look
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have said that their marriage is not traditional.
Pinkett Smith revealed this week that she and Smith, who married in 1997, have been living “completely separate lives” since 2016.
Here’s everything he’s said about marriage over the years.
Pinkett Smith, who is also a talk-show host, shared the revelation in an interview with NBC News, a preview of which was shown Wednesday. The interview is part of a round of media appearances Pinkett Smith has been making to promote the publication of her new memoir, “Worthy.”
In the interview from Baltimore with anchor Hoda Kotb, which is scheduled to air in full in a prime-time special on Friday, Pinkett Smith said she and Smith had decided to live separate lives in 2016. The details are among the intimacies revealed in the memoir, which will be released on October 17.
“Why it fell apart — it’s a lot of things,” Pinkett Smith said of her relationship with Academy-Award-winning actor Smith. “I think by 2016 we were tired of trying.”
He added, “We were both still stuck in our imaginations of what we thought the other person should be like.”
One of the longest and most famous celebrity partnerships, the pair created a high-profile family after marrying in 1997. They have two children, Jaden Smith and Willow Smith, who are also actors.
There has long been gossip about the state of the couple’s nearly 26-year-old marriage, but they’ve also been open about their struggles. In 2013, Pinkett Smith dismissed speculation that the couple had an open relationship in a Facebook post, describing it not as “open” but as “big”.
The couple later shared more private details about their wedding in a viral 2020 episode of Pinkett Smith’s talk show, Red Table Talk. Pinkett Smith then revealed that the pair broke up for a while and that she began “complaining” with singer August Alsina. “You and I were going through a very difficult time,” Pinkett Smith said in the discussion with Smith.
Smith responded, “I’m done with you.” He also said that the pair have decided to go their separate ways. “I really felt like we might be finished.”
It now appears that the split was more permanent than the couple initially portrayed, even though they have reaffirmed their commitment to each other as partners over the years. The actress said that she did not tell the public because the two were not “ready” yet as their partnership was developing. “How do we present this to people? And we didn’t figure it out,” she said.
Their relationship gained more attention during the Academy Awards ceremony in 2022, when Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock during the broadcast after he joked about Pinkett Smith’s hairstyle. The moment, which stunned the audience and sparked discussion so widespread that it became known as The Slap, led organizers to ban Smith from attending the Oscars for ten years.
The couple has been separated since 2016, but have not filed for divorce. “I swore there would be no reason for us to split up. “We will do everything we can,” Pinkett said in an NBC interview preview.. “I’m not going to be able to break that promise.”
What was the reason for separation?
Smith appeared on “Red Table Talk” in 2020 to discuss her romantic relationship with singer August Alsina.
The pair said the “tangle” in their marriage occurred during a “very difficult time”, but they have since replaced it with “unconditional love”.
“The very first year of our marriage, I told you I could love you for anything,” Will Smith stated at the time..”
The couple collided when they jokingly rendered their “Bad Boys” movie motto: “We walk together, we die together.” Bad marriage for life.”
going ahead beyond Jada Will Smith 2016 secret
Will Smith celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2017 with a throwback photo of their wedding and an emotional caption that read, “20 years ago today we held each other’s hands and innocently walked down that aisle. That’s what I’ve learned since then.”
Smith wrote, “Love is like gardening… I have learned to focus on helping you become who you want to be (who you were born to be).” Be what my fragile ego wants.”
He captioned the post “Happy Anniversary, my Queen!” Ended with. I am always dedicated to nurturing your deepest fact.”
Hollywood’s cutest power couple
That same year, Pinkett Smith appeared on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” and answered a viewer’s question about the “weirdest” rumor she had heard about her family. Pinkett Smith said that she and her husband were swingers.
“And I’m like, ‘Yo, I wish!’ He said laughing.
When Cohen asked her how she keeps things “hot” with her husband, Pinkett Smith said, “I really think Will and I have amazing chemistry on so many different levels.”
She went on to say, “We love to laugh together, we love to learn together and we just love each other.” “We’re just having fun together.. Yes, I think that’s the secret. Yes, we really like each other!”
Speculations and rumors
Pinkett Smith said she has not spoken to Rock since Smith slapped her at the Oscars after Rock made fun of her severed head. “[Do I] want to talk to Chris? Here’s my wish: I just hope that all the misunderstandings around this will be cleared up and there can be peace,” she told the publication. “I discuss this in the book: I believe there was some confusion between Chris and me regarding the 2016 Oscars.” I think maybe he took offense, I meant no harm in insulting. No. That wasn’t my intention. But I believe there is a major misunderstanding here.”
The drama between the trio had been going on publicly since 2016, when Smith was snubbed by an Oscar for his performance in Concussion. That year, no actors of color were nominated in any acting category, leading to the #OscarsSoWhite movement. Some artists boycotted the award show in protest. Pinkett Smith had vocally supported the protests on social media, and had asked Rock to step down from hosting that year’s ceremony, the comedian claimed in his Netflix comedy special earlier this year. Instead of quitting, Rock made fun of Pinkett Smith during the Oscars telecast. “”Jada’s boycott of the Oscars is equivalent to my boycott of Rihanna’s pants,” Rock stated on stage.. “I wasn’t invited.”
Seven years and a slap later, Pinkett Smith said she “really didn’t recognize the level of pressure [Chris] was under” at the time. “Maybe I should have called him and said, ‘Hey, are you okay? And just know that even though I’m speaking about the Oscars, I wish you all the best and I just want you to Know this’ – I took the time to call him and said, just to touch base. But his sentiments might have been hurt.”
Pinkett Smith said that after the 2016 Oscars joke, Rock apologized and I apologized to him too. So I believed we were OK, that our issues had been buried.. And we didn’t talk from then until 2022.” Pinkett Smith claimed she even received an apology from The Rock following the 2022 Oscars controversy.
An iconic Hollywood couple
Pinkett Smith appeared on Sways universe in 2018 and declared that she and Smith “are family,” no matter what.
“Take out all the marriage/relationship nonsense, at the end of the day, Will and I are family. I’m going to hold him no matter what,” she said. “All those relationships and what people think about a husband, a partner and all that, man, whatever. After all, he is a man who can trust me for the rest of his life.”
A caller later asked how Pinkett Smith dealt with “indiscretions” in her marriage.
Pinkett Smith said, “As much as we want our partners to be perfect, as much as we want them to never hurt us, as much as we want them to come into the relationship without flaws and everything to be perfect, we Don’t do it.” Said.
Public and industry reactions
Also that year, Smith appeared on Tidal’s Rap Radar podcast and made headlines when he revealed that he and Pinkett Smith “don’t even say we’re married anymore.”
“”We refer to ourselves as life partners, which is when you realize you’re literally with someone for life,” Smith explained. “Not a deal breaker. She can never do anything. Nothing […] will break our relationship. He has my support till the end of his life and it feels great to get to that place.”
forge new paths
In 2021, Smith spoke to GQ about his upcoming memoir in which he wrote about the ups and downs in his relationship with his wife.
One incident occurred in 2011, when he planned a 40th birthday party for Pinkett Smith, which also included a documentary about her life that traced her family back to slavery. The actress did not like this and told Smith, “It was the most disgusting display of arrogance I have ever seen in my life.”
“Our marriage was not working,” Smith wrote in her book. “We can no longer pretend. We were both unhappy and clearly something had to change.
He confirmed to GQ that their marriage had become non-monogamous, explaining that “Jada never believed in traditional marriage.”
“The way she grew up was very different from how I grew up. There have been endless discussions about what constitutes relational perfection. What is the right way to interact as a couple?” He said. “And for large parts of our relationship, we chose monogamy, not thought of monogamy as the only relational fulfillment.”
Smith expanded on what it meant to him.
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