Jada Pinkett Smith explains why she and Will Smith won't divorce despite secret seven-year split

Jada Pinkett Smith has spoken of the prospect of officially ending her marriage to Will Smith, saying that would feel like "quitting."

Pinkett Smith joined friend Jay Shetty on his 'On Purpose' podcast for an epic two-and-a-half hour episode to discuss her upcoming memoir Worthy, explaining why she and Smith haven't divorced, despite having been separated for seven years.

"Everybody's like, 'Why don't you just get divorced?' And it's like, that's like quitting," she told Shetty.

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"I don't think there's any person that could embrace the best and the worst of me and be able, be willing to hold space in the way that Will holds space for me, and the way that I hold space for him," Pinkett Smith continued.

"There's no greater mirror I could have than Will... I can't get around myself just like he can't get around himself with me," she explained.

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"Would it be easier to go and find somebody else and have a more 'pleasing' more comfortable relationship? Maybe. But would that get me to the person that I really wanna be," she added.

Pinkett Smith confirmed to Today in the US she and Smith are working to "reconcile" their marriage.

"There's no finding another great love," she said. "We are working very hard at bringing our relationship together."

She continued: "We are in a deep healing space," adding that there's "no divorce on paper" and "no divorce in theory."

Pinkett Smith's memoir is out now

Will Smith penned a response to his estranged wife's memoir, writing an email to the New York Times. He said Pinkett Smith's book "woke him up."

"When you've been with someone for more than half your life, a sort of emotional blindness sets in," he reportedly wrote. "And you can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties."

In her book, Pinkett Smith spoke about early struggles in their relationship when Smith was in the process of divorcing his first wife Sheree Zampino. He and Zampino are parents to son Trey, and he hand Pinkett Smith went on to have two more children - Jaden and Willow.

Witnessing Smith's struggles during this time and having endured the painful divorce of her own parents, she recalled telling Smith she wouldn't marry him if divorce was ever a possibility.

The conversation was triggered by Smith's team's suggestion the pair get a prenup ahead of their 1997 wedding.

"It was within that exchange that a deep commitment was made — almost like we were making an inherent promise to each other even before we got to the altar," she writes.

"It was as if he was saying in that moment, 'I trust you.' And I was saying, "I love you enough that no matter what happens, we are going to work through it, whatever inevitable challenges come up, and for better or worse, we are in this for the long haul.

"Our promise was a holy one, made without the intoxication of the fairy tale of a wedding ceremony," she continued. "It was two people sitting down and being real and clear-eyed with each other, swearing an oath in front of God."

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Title: Jada Pinkett Smith explains why she and Will Smith won't divorce despite secret seven-year split
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/jada-pinkett-smith-will-smith-divorce-memoir/7a6d1d98-8113-4207-9a7b-b9e5bb6fdee6
Published Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2023 19:10:00 GMT