‘Marriage for us can’t be a prison’: Will Smith reveals he and wife Jada Pinkett Smith do NOT practice monogamy… and once discussed wanting harem of girlfriends including Halle Berry and Misty Copeland
- Will Smith told US GQ in a Monday interview he does not practice monogamy
- He and wife Jada Pinkett Smith have been married since 1997
- Will, 53, once spoke to an intimacy coach about wanting other women
- He wrote a desired list that included Halle Berry and Misty Copeland
- Smith said that ‘marriage for us can’t be a prison’ for him and his wife
Will Smith is opening up about his marriage to wife Jada Pinkett Smith, and has revealed that at one point during their relationship they decided to no longer practice monogamy.
‘Jada never believed in conventional marriage… Jada had family members that had an unconventional relationship,’ the Men In Black actor told US GQ in an interview published Monday.
The 53-year-old – who has been married to Jada since 1997 – added: ‘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?’ he went on. ‘And for the large part of our relationship, monogamy was what we chose, not thinking of monogamy as the only relational perfection.’
‘Marriage for us can’t be a prison’: Will Smith reveals that he and wife Jada Pinkett Smith do NOT practice monogamy in a new interview with US GQ
But Will admitted their approach isn’t for everyone.
He said: ‘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.’
Last year, Will and Jada candidly discussed the actress’ ‘entanglement’ with singer August Alsina but the Aladdin star admitted to the publication that his wife wasn’t the only one engaging in other sexual relationships outside of their marriage.
Candid: The 53-year-old – who has been married to Jada since 1997 – has explained their unconventional union
However, he declined to go into detail, particularly because his mindset has changed in recent years.
He explained: ‘It may seem hard to believe, but I would lose sleep over not giving you the answer that I know you could use.
‘I want to help you, I want you to succeed, I want you to have a headline.
‘But by the same token, I don’t want to deal with the backlash of that in the world. To say I don’t want to talk about that three years ago would have been f****** excruciating for me.’
Long road: The couple are seen at the 68th Academy Awards in 1999
The Fresh Prince star also discussed a previous fantasy he had, of having a harem of famous girlfriends.
He spoke about the idea with an intimacy coach named Michaela Boehm, and even had her work on the list with him and planned to contact the women, but ultimately realised the idea was ‘horrific’.
The list included Halle Berry and Misty Copeland.
He said: ‘I don’t know where I saw it or some s*** as a teenager, but the idea of travelling with 20 women that I loved and took care of and all of that, it seemed like a really great idea.
‘And then, after we played it out a little bit, I was like, “That would be horrific. That would be horrific. I was like, “Can you imagine how miserable?”‘
Family: The couple are seen with their children Trey Smith, Willow Smith, and Jaden Smith at an event in 2016
However, Will still found it helpful to discuss his fantasy in depth.
He explained to the men’s lifestyle publication: ‘What she was doing was essentially cleaning out my mind, letting it know it was OK to be me and be who I was.
‘It was OK to think Halle is fine. It doesn’t make me a bad person that I’m married and I think Halle is beautiful.
‘Whereas in my mind, in my Christian upbringing, even my thoughts were sins. That was really the process that Michaela worked me through to let me realise that my thoughts were not sins and even acting on an impure thought didn’t make me a piece of s***.”