Jada Pinkett Smith has spoken candidly about her relationship with Will Smith amid the release of her new book Worthy.
In an interview withPeople to promote her book’s release, Jada discussed the beginning of their relationship, and how she and Will had seen each other multiple times in passing until he had called her after his divorce from his first wife, Sheree Zampino.
“Who are you going out with?” he asked her over the phone. After Jada told Will she wasn’t dating anyone at the time, she said Will told her: “Well, you’re going out with me now.”
Looking back on the story, Jada just laughed. “Can you believe I fell for that?” she told the outlet.
She continued: “Will called me up one day and said: ’Hit me when you get to LA,’ and then ... click. And I was like: ‘Whoa. Okay.’ And so when I got to LA, I called him. I haven’t been able to get rid of him since.”
At the time when the two got together, Jada was being treated for depression and suicidal ideation and was taking medication, specifically Prozac, according to the outlet. However, she stopped taking it once she began dating Will.
“Once I met Will, I completely abandoned my mental health. I was so intoxicated by him and our dynamic. I really felt like I’m cured,” she said. “He became the drug.”
Jada went on to say that, reflecting on her life, it had been filled with intense highs, such as the birth of her two children Jaden and Willow, and intense lows, such as when her depression returned when she turned 40.
“When I turned 40, I was in so much pain. I couldn’t figure a way out besides death. So I made a plan,” she said.
The actress acknowledged that her life was great on paper with the constant movie premieres and designer dresses. “But, while I was really living the dream, I hit a huge wall — a massive amount of depression,” she said. “I think that I looked at having outside sources to supplement for the voids that I was feeling inside.”
According to Jada, at this time she suffered with suicidal thoughts, with the 52 year old telling the outlet she “started looking for places, cliffs where [she] could have an accident”. “Because I didn’t want my kids to think that their mother had committed suicide,” she said.
Jada previously suggested psychedelics helped her, and revealed that drugs such as ayahuasca gave her a new “intimate relationship” with herself.
As for her relationship with Will, Jada recently revealed that they have been “separated for seven years” and that the two of them are still “figuring it out.”
“We’ve been doing some really heavy-duty work together,” she continued. “We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us.”
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
