Will Smith has opened up about his and Jada Pinkett Smith's two-decades-long marriage, ahead of the release of his eponymous memoir, which will be published in November.
In an interview with GQ, the actor spoke candidly about their relationship, which he confirmed to be non-monogamous after years of public speculation.
Here, we look and their marriage throughout the years — as well as Smith's recent admissions.
1994 — Will and Jada meet
The eventual couple met on the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1994, when she auditioned to play his on-screen girlfriend.
Unfortunately, Pinkett Smith didn't get the role due to her five-foot stature — and the part went to Nia Long instead.
Smith was married to Sheree Zampino at the time, with whom he shares son, Trey. Speaking about his past relationship on an episode of Red Table Talk in 2018, he said, "I had a realization I wasn’t with the person I was supposed to be with. I was sitting in a [toilet] stall and I was crying and laughing uncontrollably, and I knew [Jada] was the woman I was supposed to be with."
He added that he knew he was attracted to the actress when he saw her on the television series, A Different World. "I knew there was something in our energy that would be magic," he said.
1995 —They start dating
The Miami singer, 53, started dating Pinkett-Smith, 50, after his 1995 divorce from his first wife.
He asked the Matrix Reloaded actor if she was "seeing anyone", and when she said that she was single, he smoothly replied, "Cool. You're seeing me now," per US Weekly.
1997 — The couple wed
Just two years later, the Hollywood stars tied the knot, after Smith proposed in November of 1997.
Their top-secret nuptials took place at a hotel in her hometown of Baltimore, on December 31 of the same year.
Pinkett Smith was actually three months pregnant with the couple's first child when she walked down the aisle. "One day we got engaged, and the next day we found out we were pregnant," she told People the following year.
While there are very few photos of their wedding, Pinkett Smith shared a rare snap to her Twitter back in 2012.
1998 — They welcome their first child, Jaden Smith
The happy couple welcomed their first child, son, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, on July 8, 1998.
Speaking about her hasty delivery to Fit Pregnancy, she exclaimed: "The doctor said it would take an hour-and-a-half to deliver him. I said, 'Oh it’s not going to take that long. I’m too anxious to meet this baby.'
"It took me 20 minutes to push him out. My mother’s a nurse and she was in there with me and she was amazed!"
2000 — Willow Smith arrives
Two years later, the Smiths had a daughter, Willow Camille Reign Smith, on October 31, 2000.
Hilariously, the I Am Legend actor actually revealed the details of their daughter's conception during a VH1 Dear Mama special.
"I’m not gonna be silly. I’m here to honor you," he said. "Just watching the piece with the kids takes me back to when we made them. Can’t help but think about that. It’s just amazing. It’s like you take Jada Pinkett Smith and an obscure town in Mexico and some tequila and you end up with great kids!"
2013 — Rumours of an open relationship
Pinkett Smith made headlines after speaking about her marriage to HuffPost Live in April of 2013.
"I’ve always told Will, 'You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay,'" she said.
"Because at the end of the day, Will is his own man. I’m here as his partner, but he is his own man. He has to decide who he wants to be and that's not for me to do for him. Or vice versa."
Her comments led some people to believe that her marriage was non-monogamous — which she later addressed and denied in a Facebook post.
"The statement I made in regard to, "Will can do whatever he wants," has illuminated the need to discuss the relationship between trust and love and how they co-exist," she stated. "Here is how I will change my statement...Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship...this means we have a GROWN one."
2015 — The Smiths deny rumors of a split
Smith was forced to address rumors that he and Pinkett Smith were getting a divorce several times over the course of 2015.
A seemingly frustrated Smith took to Facebook to assert: "Under normal circumstances, I don’t usually respond to foolishness (Because it’s contagious). But, so many people have extended me their ‘deepest condolences' that I figured – ‘What the hell… I can be foolish, too! So, in the interest of redundant, repetitious, over & over-again-ness… Jada and I are… NOT GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
2018 — "Life partners"
In a 2018 interview on TIDAL's Rap Radar podcast, Smith discussed the labels that he and his wife use in regards to their marriage.
"We don't even say we're married anymore," Smith stated. "We refer to ourselves as 'life partners,' where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life.
"There's no deal breakers. There's nothing she could do—ever—nothing that would break our relationship. She has my support till death, and it feels so good to get to that space."
2020 — Pinkett Smith's "entanglement" with August Alsina
In June of 2020, rapper August Alsina alleged that he and Pinkett Smith had an affair, and that Smith had given the pair his blessing.
The following month, the mother-of-two set the record straight on an episode of Red Table Talk. She said that she had gotten into an "entanglement" with Alsina during a time in 2015 when she and Smith were separated — or in her words, "over".
"I just wanted to feel good, it had been so long since I felt good," she said in an episode, which aired on July 10. "And it was really a joy to just help heal someone. I think that has a lot to do with my co-dependency," she added in regards to Alsina's addiction issues.
Smith also appeared on the episode, and the couple confirmed that they had reconciled, and were stronger than ever.
Pinkett Smith added they had "no secrets" and have "really gotten to that new place of unconditional love."
During this time, there were rumors that Smith had been involved with the model, Heidy De La Rosa.
2021 — Smith seemingly confirms non-monogamous marriage
In an interview with GQ (published on September 27), Smith said that while their marriage was initially monogamous, they later decided to go down the open marriage route as they were "both miserable and clearly something had to change."
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star added that while there had been much discussion about his wife's "entanglement" with Alsina, he also had his own extra-marital relations.
"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," he explained to Wesley Lowery.
"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 continued. "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."
