Jada Pinkett Smith is revealing why she and Will Smith decided against signing a prenuptial agreement before their marriage on New Year’s Eve 1997.
In an interview with Parade — and as a preview to her interview with Hoda Kotb airing on NBC Friday night — Jada explained the reason behind their choice while promoting her new memoir, Worthy, which will be released on Tuesday. The actress, who previously shocked everyone by revealing that she and Will have been separated for seven years, believes that not having a prenup created a special bond between them, as they made a pact that divorce would never be necessary.
“Weddings can be beautiful, but they can also be overly romanticized,” she explained. “For us, it was a real moment of looking into each other’s eyes, acknowledging that there would be difficult times in our journey, and promising that we would figure it out. That’s why we didn’t feel the need for a prenup. I made a promise that divorce would never be an option, and that we would find a way to work through anything.”
“We made that promise to each other without all the extravagance of a bridal wedding,” she continued. “It was just us, sitting on a log in his mother’s backyard, and truly considering the possibility of not being together.”
In a sneak peek of her full interview, Jada shared with Kotb that since 2016, she and Will, who is 55, have been living “separate lives,” even though they never officially divorced.
Jada also mentioned that before Will defended her by confronting Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, where Chris made a G.I. Jane 2 joke at her expense, Will had not referred to her as his wife for a while.
“Honestly, I was really surprised because we hadn’t been calling each other husband and wife for a long time,” she said. “I was like, ‘What’s happening right now?'”
Jada also shared that Chris tried to apologize to her that night during a commercial break.
“Chris came down to the stage and tried to apologize,” Jada recalled. “He said, ‘I didn’t mean any harm.’ I told him, ‘I can’t deal with this now, Chris. It’s in the past.’ I thought it had to do with the Oscars in 2016 and their previous issues from before I came into the picture in the late ’80s. I’ll leave that to Will and Chris to address, as they have their own issues.”
However, Jada and Chris have not spoken since that eventful night.
“Do I have any desire to talk to Chris? Here’s what I want: I hope that all the misunderstandings can be cleared up, and that there can be peace,” she added.
Jada’s Story – An NBC News Special airs Friday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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