Will Smith Supports Jada Pinkett Smith at Book Event Amid Separation Revelation, Says Relationship Has Been “Brutal and Beautiful”

Abbey White
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Will Smith made a surprise appearance at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore as part of Jada Pinkett Smith’s Worthy press tour, where he showed support for her and their marriage following the memoir revelation that the duo were separated in 2016.

Appearing along with a number of Pinkett Smith’s family members, including her children Jaden and Willow; her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris; and Smith’s son from his first marriage, Trey, at a talk back moderated by CNN’s Laura Coates, Smith told the crowd that his appearance was about supporting his wife the way she had done for him throughout his career.

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“I just really wanted to come out and just be here and hold it down for you the way you have held it down for me,” he said while onstage Wednesday night, according to The Baltimore Sun. “We have had a very, very long and tumultuous [relationship]. We call it ‘brutiful.’

“It was brutal and beautiful at the same time,” he added.

The actor addressed their long-standing relationship — which saw rumors of divorce floated after the revelation that they had been living apart for years — following Pinkett Smith’s own clarification in an interview with the Today show that there’s no divorce happening and that the duo “really have been working hard at bringing our relationship together, back to a life partnership.”

Smith noted that his wife, fellow actor and now author was behind all of his accomplishments professionally and personally because she put her own ambitions on hold for his dreams, which “were largely built on the foundation of Jada’s sacrifices.” That includes developing a relationship with Trey’s mother and Smith’s ex-wife, Sheree Zampino, “so that I could have all of my children with me.

“We got together when we were in our 20s,” he told the audience. “I had huge dreams of what I wanted to do in the world and in my life, and I was on fire with a vision. And as I stand here before you today, I am happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

The actor also addressed the response to an Instagram video that saw him turning off his notifications amid the news cycle around Pinkett Smith’s separation revelation. According to Smith, he had for the past three weeks been in Papua New Guinea, where he was assisting with biodiversity research, and was unaware of the divorce speculation before arriving in Sydney. His decision to turn his phone — and all its notifications — off was due to not having internet service, The Baltimore Sun reports.

“Our union is a sloppy experiment in unconditional love,” he told the lecture crowd. “Jada is the best friend I have ever had on this planet, and I am going to show up for her and support her for the rest of my life.”

During the conversation, Pinkett Smith once again squashed those divorce rumors, telling Coates, “Will and me are good.

“All the people who don’t understand and got something to say are just going to have to fall in line,” she said. “The truth of the matter is, I’m not leaving Will’s side, and he’s not going to leave mine. We’ve been on a powerful quest. And I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

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