It's long been said that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Will Smith certainly seems to believe the old axiom is true.
With just a little over a month to go until the release of his memoir "Will" and latest movie "King Richard" — a meaty biopic in which he takes on the role of tennis sensations Venus and Serena Williams' dad that is already generating Oscar buzz — the 53-year-old rapper, actor and entrepreneur has been hitting the media circuit hard.
Monday the online version of GQ's November cover story featuring Smith went live and then quickly went viral thanks to the juicy revelations contained within about the megastar and his marriage to fellow thespian and singer Jada Pinkett Smith.
First and foremost, perhaps, is that the power couple is not monogamous.
Jada never believed in conventional marriage.… 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 told Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Lowery who wrote the intimate profile. “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.
The striking admission might have shocked longtime fans of the duo, who have presented a strong family-oriented front over the years and are the parents of superstar siblings Jaden (Age 23) and Willow Smith (20) — Will's oldest son Trey (28) was born during his brief marriage to Sheree Zampino. For fans of Pinkett Smiths' Facebook Watch series "Red Table Talk" it was the final puzzle piece in a mystery that began last July.
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| Photo Courtesy Facebook "Red Table Talk" |
Then Pinkett Smith, 50, posted a special episode of the series in which she and Will set down to address allegations made by rapper August Alsina, about an affair he claimed to have with the "Girls Trip" star in 2015 with her husband's permission.
Jada & Will Smith Red Table Talk Recap! 😳🍿
— SFTY+ (@sftyplus) July 10, 2020
1) Will and Jada briefly separated, that's why and when Will gave the 'Blessing'.
2) Jada says she didn’t cheat but had an "entaglement" with August Alsina.#RedTableTalk
pic.twitter.com/w8PyGOeZDM
The couple revealed that they had been separated at the time of the 2015 "entanglement" but for some fans of the artist formerly known as the Fresh Prince, the explanations didn't add up. So, Smith decided to clear things up in his GQ beyond a shadow of a doubt — and he didn't stop there.
In addition to talking about his open marriage for the first time, Smith cleared up why he turned down Quentin Tarantino's epic "Django Unchained": “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.”
And why he doesn't necessarily agree with the sentiment behind "defunding the police": "I would love if we would just say 'Defund the bad police,'" Smith said. "It’s almost like I want, as Black Americans, for us to change our marketing for the new position we’re in. So 'critical race theory,' just call it 'truth theory.' The pendulum is swinging in our direction beautifully."
"This is a difficult area to discuss, but I feel like the simplicity of Black Lives Matter was perfect," he continues. "Anybody who tries to debate Black Lives Matter looks ridiculous. So when I talk about the marketing of our ideas, Black Lives Matter was perfection. From a standpoint of getting it done, Black Lives Matter gets it done. 'Defund the police' doesn’t get it done, no matter how good the ideas are. I’m not saying we shouldn't defund the police. I’m saying, just don’t say that, because then people who would help you won’t."
Read the complete article here. "Will" is scheduled to be released Nov. 9 by Penguin Press. "King Richard" opens in theaters Nov. 19.
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