0
0
As I’ve read and listened to various snippets over the past week about Jada Pickett Smith’s forthcoming tell-all memoir and some of the devastating revelations, I wonder some things other people have:
Why?
Now, hear me out: I’m all for people speaking their truth whatever their truth is. The Bible says the truth shall set you free and apparently, it works for a lot of people. And for some people, well, the truth means you might be doing a 5-10 year bid in a state prison.
But we’re not talking about criminals here. No, we’re talking about Jada and Will, but more specifically Jada. Now, I’m going to go on full disclosure here: while I liked her as an actress, I never really cared for Jada as a person. There was something always a bit off about her.
And because I never liked her, you could imagine all the names I was called by her Stan base: misogynistic, mean, male-identified, etc. I have to admit, just because I found someone off in their real-life, it didn’t make me a bad person or even them. It just meant I didn’t think I was getting the full picture of who she was.
Lo and behold, I was proven right a decade later.
There have been numerous breadcrumbs over the years that Jada was never quite happy being Mrs. Will Smith – a big part of that is her incessant mentioning of Tupac and her daughter, Willow’s, famous letter hoping Tupac “could come back and her and her mommy happy.”
They both have admitted – to a degree – they had an open marriage and let’s not forget the infamous word in everyone’s lexicon – an entanglement – involving singer August Alsina.
So, why am I annoyed now? Well, the answer is simpler and more complex than even I thought.
When it comes time to speak one’s truth, one has to remember while they’re setting themselves free, they also might hurt other people in the process. They also might damage their reputation as well. It’s why so many choose to keep quiet. It’s also why so many might, well, be miserable.
Again, I know the Bible says if someone slaps you (shoutout to Will), you need to give them the other cheek as well. But sometimes, people need to be put in their place. And sometimes, they need to check themselves.
I am known to being honest to a degree – I will always bite my tongue because sometimes I know how nasty I can get. I always have to ask myself – is this going to hurt or is it going to help? Sometimes, I know it’ll be one of them and I choose accordingly.
That doesn’t mean people don’t get told off. It doesn’t mean I let a lot of things slide. It just means, do I really want to say what I feel or do I want to soften the blow I could deal? It’s that small difference between telling someone to be quiet and screaming at them to shut the fuck up!
Will has admitted in his book that Jada was pretty much against almost everything major in their relationship – their wedding, their house purchase, and even a sentimental video Will did for her on her birthday. She’d dropped many clues she wasn’t happy with him, and that she was probably never going to be happy with him.
And yet, they’re not divorcing. They’re both miserable in a marriage that doesn’t benefit either of them.
This is not to say, ‘Poor Will…’ and honestly, no one should sorry for Will Smith. While Chris Rock deserved to get the taste slapped out of his mouth, Will also could’ve pulled the trigger to end the marriage when he knew – and he’s known for a long while – it was no longer benefitting him.
And who knows? Maybe the trigger is realizing your wife has been in love with a man who’s been dead for almost 30 years might do it. Now, let’s talk about that part.
Will and Jada both have their reasons for staying married and maybe it’s not for us to understand. I’ve known plenty of couples who’ve led separate lives until one of them died. But to say another man was truly someone’s soulmate in front of a worldwide audience? Well, that kinda screams I was never in love with you and yeah, you wasted your time being with me.
I pray for Jada’s healing and I sincerely hope she finds happiness. It may not be being a multimillionaire’s wife. Maybe she does need to go back to Baltimore and slum it out with the thugs. Maybe she needs to go on a retreat for a while to figure out who she is.
I hope her book sells a gazillion copies, and she could look back at her life and times, knowing she was that bitch. She was an actress, singer, mother, homegirl, and lover of everyone.
And I hope, for fuck’s sake, she gets a divorce.
