Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have been making headlines lately because of their unconventional marriage. I asked them both to meet me at a cute coffee shop close to where I live to discuss their relationship. They didn’t show up.
But only because they had the “wrong place”. That’s the lie they told me, anyway. I was fuming, but I still laughed when they explained the “mix-up”. We ended up meeting at a coffee shop near them. They’re clever.
Bea: I really appreciate you both doing this with me.
Jada: It’s our pleasure.
Will: I’m just here for the cookies…
Bea: Congrats on having one of the most famous and long-lasting relationships in Hollywood. It’s not easy, especially in this industry…
Will: [while eating three cookies at once] Thank you.
Bea: How long have you been married?
Jada: We don’t think of ourselves as “married”.
Will: That’s right. [still chewing the cookies]
Jada: I never wanted to get married in the first place…. and I definitely didn’t want to have a wedding. It was a horrible wedding!
Bea: Well… that’s not a nice thing to say in front of your spouse.
Will: No, she’s right. It was truly horrible. [surprisingly, still chewing]
Bea: Was the priest drunk—or why was it so terrible?
Jada: No, nothing like that, I just went crying down the aisle. I cried the whole way.
Bea: That’s one way to kill a spouse’s self-confidence… Will, why did you decide to marry her anyway?
Will: Because I knew how she felt. I knew she didn’t want to get married… she only went through with it because of her mom.
Bea: … You guys… I hope you know there are people you can talk to about this stuff. Psychiatrists…. divorce lawyers. You don’t need to stay married.
Jada: No no. We love each other beyond words, and we are committed to each other for life… We are life partners.
Bea: Oh, okay…. good! For a second there I was like ‘these people are crazy’…
Will: Oh, we’re definitely crazy. That’s for sure.
Bea: Yeah, but there’s ‘cute crazy’… and then there’s ‘Am-I-in-danger-being-alone-with-these-two crazy’… I was starting to look for an exit.
[Silence]
Bea: One thing I came across while reading about you two is that you have an ‘open marriage…’
Jada: That’s just a rumor…
Bea: So it’s not true then?
Will: What Jada and I have is a GROWN marriage. I TRUST her, and I trust that she will know what to do with that trust, and vice-versa.
Bea: Huh?
Jada: We have our own definition of what we are: life partners. There are no deal-breakers between us. There’s nothing he could ever do–ever, that would break our relationship.
Bea: Will, is this true?
Will: No-thing. We are together for life, baby!
That’s when I kissed Will on the lips. And then Jada stood up and left. I learned that nothing will ever break them up but she can still get upset. Really upset.
Read more interviews:
—Leonardo Dicaprio Opens Up About His Intense Love Life for the First Time in Years
—Julianne Hough Opens Up About Her Divorce and the Possibility of Dating Other People
