Although Pinkett Smith started relationship Will Smith in 1995, their connection was established years prior when the 2 have been younger actors within the early Nineties. On the time, Smith was making music with DJ Jazzy Jeff and starring in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” whereas Pinkett Smith was beginning her profession in “A Different World.” In a 2018 video interview with Self-importance Honest, the “Magic Mike XXL” star revealed that she met Smith when she was 19 throughout an audition to play Smith’s girlfriend on “The Fresh Prince,” however in the end misplaced the job to Nia Lengthy for being too quick. Smith observed Pinkett Smith in the course of the audition, however met Sherri Zampino that very same day, and ended up marrying her in 1992.

Pinkett Smith made an enduring impression on Smith, and after his divorce from Zampino in 1995, he instantly needed to present Pinkett Smith consideration. The 2 started relationship nearly instantly, and in Dececember 1997, they tied the knot in a personal ceremony in Pinkett Smith’s hometown of Baltimore, MD. Along with Smith’s son from his marriage to Zampino, Trey Smith, the couple have two kids collectively: Jaden Smith (born 1998) and Willow Smith (born 2000).

Over the course of their relationship, Pinkett Smith and Smith have been the topics of intense rumors, with a distinguished one being that the pair have been in an open relationship. In 2013, the “RTT” host advised HuffPost Dwell, “I’ve always told Will, ‘You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay.” She continued, “Because at the end of the day, Will is his own man. I’m here as his partner, but he is his own man. He has to decide who he wants to be and that’s not for me to do for him, or vice versa.” Pinkett Smith later clarified her feedback in a Fb submit, writing, “Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship…this means we have a GROWN one.”

Whereas they appeared on nice phrases within the public eye, the couple’s relationship was slowly deteriorating in personal. In a sit-down interview with “Today” in October 2023, Pinkett Smith shockingly revealed that she and Smith had been quietly separated since 2016. “By the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying,” she stated. “I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.”

Whereas the 2 have been dwelling separate lives, she and the “King Richard” actor have not divorced as a result of they’re nonetheless making an attempt to work on their partnership. “I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through whatever. And I just haven’t been able to break that promise,” Pinkett Smith defined.