HUFFINGTON POST:
Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith Split? Couple Separating: Report
First Posted: 8/23/11 10:31 AM ET Updated: 8/23/11 10:52 AM ET
In Touch Weekly is reporting that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett are separating. Their reps have not confirmed the story.
(When contacted about the story by TMZ, Pinkett's rep said, "What? In Touch said that? I know nothing about this... Lord. I'm going back to bed.")
The pair, who met when Pinkett auditioned for "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," married on December 31st, 1997. They have two children together, budding pop stars Jaden and Willow, and Pinkett is the step mother of Smith's older son from a previous marriage, Trey.
Speaking to YourTango in 2007, Pinkett described how they first got together.
"After we had known each other for many years, we went out for dinner one night with mutual friends and I saw that he had grown from this lanky kid to this really responsible man," she said. "We started courting each other and our friendship turned into romance."
In 2008, Smith spoke with Ellen Degeneres about their marriage, which he implied would last forever.
"What I found is divorce just can't be an option," he said. "It's really that simple. And I think that's the problem with L.A. – there are so many options. So a huge part of the success for [Jada] and I is that we just removed the other options."
Whether it was cause or effect is uncertain, but that dedication certainly coincided with an active sex life, including a romp on the way to the Oscars in 2010.
Speaking to Uptown Magazine in June, Pinkett said, "People think that Will and I don’t spend a lot of time together. Too much time, actually, if you ask me. It’s always nice to have a little time apart. Sometimes you need that.”
