Jada Pinkett Smith on Marriage: ‘There Have Been Bigger Betrayals Than Infidelity’
Written by SOURCE on June 8, 2019
Hollywood power couple Jada Pinkett and Will Smith have been fairly open about the ups and downs of their 22-year marriage.
On next week’s episode of Jada’s Red Table Talk series, she will dive into the topic of infidelity and touch on the “betrayals” that have affected her and Will’s relationship. The episode will feature the actress’ mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and renowned couple’s therapist Esther Perel.
“What are the alternatives to divorce?” Jada asks Perel in a sneak peek. “Everybody thinks as soon as you find out there’s been an affair you have to get a divorce.”
Perel responds: “I’m not of that persuasion because I think there are many relational betrayals. Contempt, neglect, and violence and indifference and nobody tells people, ‘Leave, leave, get the hell out.’ And especially on women, it’s the real new pressure. God forbid you still love the person who actually cheated on you. Maybe that person is a lot of things and cheated on you. It’s like the shame of staying, now that you can go you’ve got to get out.”
Jada then brings up the question many people have asked: Has an affair ever affected her and Will’s marriage?
“I’m asked a lot about, ‘Is there infidelity in your relationship with Will?'” the 47-year-old actress says. “And it’s like, ‘No, but there have been other betrayals of the heart that have been far bigger than I could even think in regards to an infidelity situation.'”
Though Jada says there has been no infidelity during her and Will’s marriage, she reveals that she has cheated and been cheated on in previous relationships.
“I have to tell you: Me cheating on someone was more devastating than me being cheated on,” she says. “Yes, it actually taught me to forgive when I got cheated on because I understood. And what I understood most was it didn’t have anything to do with me.”
You can catch the full episode this Monday on Facebook Watch.
Will and Jada discussed their marital issues on Red Table Talk last fall. The Aladdin star spoke about their serious rough patch, but never considered divorce.
“We essentially had to destroy our marriage,” he said. “She was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore’ and to me … it was over, but divorce was never even an option.”
Jada added: “It never crossed my mind. We just needed to get to an agreement between he and I.”
