Will And Jada Pinkett Smith Had A Break-Up Within Their Marriage

Will Smith Concussion / Jada Pinkett Smith Red Table Talk

Marriage is a commitment. It's a challenge to uphold, no matter how many years you find yourself connected to your significant other. There will always be difficulties presented and hardships endured, and that's also the case for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. While the celebrity couple is among the most recognizable, committed and long-lasting in Hollywood, there were apparently days where things were coming to an end.

As Will Smith admits, he and his wife were once separated within their marriage. While not a legal break of their union, Smith recently spoke to the complicated and dark time in their relationship, saying:

I was devastated even worse than a divorce. We broke up within our marriage and got back together again and had to rebuild with new rules -- something way completely different. I took off for two years. I worked on myself. I've read 50 books on marriage and relationships and behavioral psychology; I was not going to fail in this marriage. But I shut down for two entire years to see what was I doing wrong.

The surprising marriage revelation was made during the most recent episode of Jada Pinkett Smith's Facebook talk show series, Red Table Talk. While the couple has admitted in the past that they have had their difficulties, the details have been vague. The public didn't know that there was a point in time where it looked as though all hope was lost for their marriage.

In the episode, both Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith opened up about fighting to to keep their marriage intact, which involved reworking their standings on a lot of matters. That was difficult for both parties, but they overcame their struggles and they remain happily married with children to this day. Still, there was no shortage of challenges that were presented to them at that time.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been married to one another for more than 20 years, and they continue to remain attached and dependable to each other -- even during the difficulties alluded to above. In order to stay attached and learn to rebuild their love and dedications, they have taken unconventional methods of keeping themselves together. For instance, as Will Smith admitted earlier this year, he and Jada don't say they're "married" to each other anymore. Instead, they opt for another phrase which keeps themselves strong attached to each other's side. Here's how he described it.

We don't even say we're married anymore. We refer to ourselves as life partners, where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life. [There are] no deal breakers. There's nothing she could do -- ever -- nothing that would break our relationship. She has my support till death and it feels so good to get to that space.

Even though Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith haven't been together as long as we originally believed, the couple has stayed married to each other and they've kept themselves attached since the day they said "I do" to one another. We hope that tradition continues in the many years yet to come.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.