The Real Reason Will Smith And Jada Pinkett Smith Say They Don't Work On Their Marriage
In May 2018, Jada Pinkett Smith debuted her Facebook Watch series "Red Table Talk" with her daughter Willow and mother Adrienne Banfield. Described as a show where the trio "tackle current social and cultural issues with an intergenerational perspective" (via Red Table Talk), the chat show also features a major insight into the Smith family dynamic, but less so between Pinkett Smith and her husband Will Smith.
That all changed in the summer of 2020 when the couple had their first sit-down conversations on the web series, per Cheat Sheet. It provided fans their first proper insight into the dynamic the actress and actor share as a married couple, including whether Smith felt he was appreciated as a father (via Twitter) and the rumors that Pinkett Smith had a relationship with rapper August Alsina — a relationship that reportedly had Smith's "blessing," according to Buzzfeed News.
In both interviews, the couple made it clear they don't have a conventional relationship, even going so far as admitting that they don't work on their marriage.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith refer to themselves as "life partners"
Despite the awkward moments throughout their Red Table Talk (via InStyle), their openness as a couple matches what they've said previously about how exactly they've managed to stay together all this time. A year after that conversation, Will Smith opened up to GQ in September 2021 revealing that as "Jada never believed in conventional marriage," they worked together to give themselves "trust and freedom with the belief that everybody has to find their own way," Smith said, adding that "marriage for us can't be a prison."
While Smith doesn't recommend "our road for anybody," it works for them and has done since they tied the knot in 1997. "The experiences that the freedoms that we've given one another and the unconditional support, to me, is the highest definition of love." Referring to themselves as "life partners," Smith made it clear that there's "nothing she could do — ever — nothing that would break our relationship," he said speaking on TIDAL's Rap Radar podcast (via TV One). "She has my support till death, and it feels so good to get to that space."