However, he added that he wouldn't suggest monogamy to anyone else, "But the experiences that the freedoms that we've given one another and the unconditional support, to me, is the highest definition of love."
Marriages are not easy, especially because it involves two people from two different backgrounds coming together as one. It does take a lot of time for them to adjust to one another. During an interview with GQ, conducted by Wesley Lowery, Will Smith opened up about the real nature of his marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith. The two got married in 1997 and later welcomed two children: a son, Jaden Smith, and a daughter, Willow Smith, born in 1998 and 2000, per Insider.
However, it's safe to say their matrimony had its fair share of ups and downs. At one point, the two of them stopped being monogamous with each other, he revealed, adding that it did have quite a bit to do with Jada's upbringing.
The 53-year-old began by explaining how they grew up with different values. "Jada never believed in conventional marriage... Jada had family members that had an unconventional relationship," explained the star. "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 Men In Black star shared.
However, he knows that their approach towards their marital life is definitely not something for everyone. "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 added.
"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."
Smith then revealed that Jada wasn't "the only one engaging in other sexual relationships."
"It may seem hard to believe, but I would lose sleep over not giving you the answer that I know you could use," Smith told the interviewer Wesley Lowery. "I want to help you, I want you to succeed, I want you to have a headline. But by the same token, I don't want to deal with the backlash of that in the world."
In a candid conversation on Jada's Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk in October 2018, Will acknowledged how bad their relationship had become at one point.
“We essentially had to destroy our marriage. She was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ and to me… it was over, but divorce was never even an option,” he said. They took about two years to see what the future held for them, in terms of their relationship. We "had to rebuild with new rules and something way completely different.”
Needless to say, it worked, and Jada recently opened up saying, "I think I really thought happiness had a lot to do with pleasure and I realize that happiness is about peace."
“I am the most peaceful I’ve ever been in my life, so I am the happiest," she added.
References:
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/will-smith-november-cover-profile
https://www.insider.com/will-smith-jada-pinkett-smith-marriage-monogamy-2021-9
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo By Kevin Winter
