Two years ago singer August Alsina revealed he had a sordid affair with actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who is married to A-list actor Will Smith.
At the time of his scandalous revelation, Alsina, 29, said Smith, 53, knew about his wife’s May-December relationship and gave them his blessing.
In the November 2021 issue of GQ magazine, Smith admitted both he and Jada, 50, have stepped outside their marriage over the years in order to keep their Love alive.
“Jada never believed in conventional marriage,” Smith tells the men’s fashion magazine.
“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. 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.”
Smith, who shares daughter Willow, 20, and son Jaden, 23, with Jada, admits they both opted for an open marriage after years of monogamy.
“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. 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 said he often called legendary actor Denzel Washington for marital advice over the years.
“Throughout the years, I would always call Denzel. He’s a real sage. I was probably 48 or something like that and I called Denzel. He said, ‘Listen. You’ve got to think of it as the funky 40. Everybody’s 40s are funky.’ He said, ‘But just wait till you hit the fuck-it 50s.’ He said, ‘Just bear with your 40s.’ I stopped and I was like, ‘The funky 40s and the fuck-it 50s?’ And that’s exactly what happened. It just became the fuck-it 50s, and I gave myself the freedom to do whatever I wanted to do.”
Will also explained to GQ magazine why he scrapped the making of Emancipation, the film that tells the story behind the photo of “Whipped Peter.”
The historic photo of the ex-slave’s scarred back, taken during an Army medical examination, became known as “The Scourged Back.”
The movie was originally scheduled to shoot in Atlanta, Georgia, but Smith pulled the movie out of Georgia in response to Gov. Brian Kemp‘s new voter protection bill.
“I’ve always avoided making films about slavery,” Smith told GQ writer Wesley Lowery.
“In the early part of my career… I didn’t want to show Black people in that light. I wanted to be a superhero. So I wanted to depict Black excellence alongside my white counterparts. I wanted to play roles that you would give to Tom Cruise. And the first time I considered it was Django. But I didn’t want to make a slavery film about vengeance.”
