Jada Pinkett on Marriage to Will Smith: ‘There Have Been Bigger Betrayals Than Infidelity’

Jada Pinkett on Marriage to Will Smith: ‘There Have Been Bigger Betrayals Than Infidelity’

Jada Pinkett continues to be open about the ups and downs of her 22-year marriage to Will Smith.

On next week’s episode of Jada’s Red Table Talk series, she will speak on the topic of infidelity and the “betrayals” that have affected her and Will’s relationship. The episode will feature her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and renowned couple’s therapist Esther Perel.

“What are the alternatives to divorce?” Jada asks Perel in a sneak peek, per Complex. “Everybody thinks as soon as you find out there’s been an affair you have to get a divorce.”

Perel responds: “I’m not of that persuasion because I think there are many relational betrayals. Contempt, neglect, and violence and indifference and nobody tells people, ‘Leave, leave, get the hell out.’ And especially on women, it’s the real new pressure. God forbid you still love the person who actually cheated on you. Maybe that person is a lot of things and cheated on you. It’s like the shame of staying, now that you can go you’ve got to get out.”

Jada then brings up the question many people have asked: Has an affair ever affected her and Will’s marriage?

“I’m asked a lot about, ‘Is there infidelity in your relationship with Will?’” the 47-year-old actress says. “And it’s like, ‘No, but there have been other betrayals of the heart that have been far bigger than I could even think in regards to an infidelity situation.’”

Though Jada says there has been no infidelity during her and Will’s marriage, she reveals that she has cheated and been cheated on in previous relationships.

“I have to tell you: Me cheating on someone was more devastating than me being cheated on,” she says. “Yes, it actually taught me to forgive when I got cheated on because I understood. And what I understood most was it didn’t have anything to do with me.”

You can catch the full episode this Monday on Facebook Watch.