Several media outlets are reporting Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have decided to end their high-profile marriage. According to Radar Online, the Smiths are currently figuring out how to divide their $240 million fortune and also break the news to their children, Jaden and Willow. Will Smith also has another child from a previous relationship.
The Smiths, who are a Hollywood power couple, have long been dogged by rumors about their marriage. According to Radar Online, they are both tired of putting forward the image of a happy family.
“For Will and Jada, holding it together these past few years has been tough because their marriage has been on life support for a long time,” an insider told Radar. “They’re exhausted from trying to maintain the façade of a happy union. They’ve decided to pull the plug in a carefully choreographed manner, [and] agree announcing their split at the end of the summer is the right move.”
However, there are conflicting reports about the Smiths’ marriage. Gossip Cop said rumors about the split are not true.
“Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are not going to announce a ‘split at the end of the summer,’ despite a new webloid report. Gossip Cop can exclusively correct this story. We’re told it’s simply ‘not true,’” Gossip Cop reported.
Although they have been married for 17 years, there were also rumors about the Smiths’ private lives. There were rumors about them having an open marriage, where both partners were free to see other people. When questioned about this, Pinkett Smith said they have a “grown relationship.”
“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,” she said in a Facebook post. “This does NOT mean we have an open relationship…this means we have a GROWN one.”
However, she later admitted she couldn’t keep tabs on her husband.
“Meanwhile, Pinkett Smith, 43, seemed to acknowledge Will’s notorious wandering eye, telling Howard Stern: ‘I’m not his watcher. He’s a grown man,’” said Radar Online. “She later added that she’s fine with Will’s ways, ‘as long as Will can look himself in the mirror and be okay.’”
According to Radar Online, Smith also admitted their marriage had “died.”
There were also rumors of infidelity. Pinkett Smith was alleged to have had an affair with Hawthorne co-star Marc Anthony. Smith was rumored to have had a fling with Focus co-star Margot Robbie.
Although Smith started in the entertainment business as a rapper known as the Fresh Prince, he has developed a stellar movie career starring in big budget sci-fi/action movies such as Men in Black, Independence Day and Bad Boys. He has also helped develop the careers of his children Jaden, an actor who has co-starred with his father in several movies, and Willow, a budding singer. Pinkett Smith is an accomplished actress who got her start in the college comedy A Different World. She starred in the Fox television show Gotham and in the film Magic Mike XXL. Smith is currently filming Suicide Squad, a superhero film scheduled to be released next year.
In recent years, Smith has also expanded into production. He has teamed with rap superstar Jay Z to produce an HBO series about Emmett Till, the young Black man whose death sparked the civil rights movement. Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment production company is currently developing The American Can, the true story of ex-Marine John Keller who helped rescue about 250 people during Hurricane Katrina. The film is expected to be directed by Denzel Washington.
However, after a day of online rumors, Smith decided to set the record straight.
“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!” said Smith in a Facebook post.
