There have have been rumors for years that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were having problems in their marriage of now 19 years. We heard back in late 2011/early 2012 that they were on the verge of a split and then stories came up again last summer that they were just about to divorce, which they denied. Both Will and Jada have admitted that their marriage is work and that they’ve gone through rough patches, but they also express a lot of admiration for each other and say they’re in it for the long haul. I don’t think either has said that they’re in couples therapy though until now. Will did an interview with The Sun where he admitted that he went through therapy with Jada and said that it was difficult but that they’re on the other side now.
Will has told how the couple sought therapy after their marriage reached breaking point. He said: “I’ve done a lot of marriage counselling.
“What happens in a marriage once you do counselling, the truth comes out.
“And you sit across from your wife and you’ve said all of your truth and she has said all of her truth. You look at each other and you can’t imagine you could ever possibly love each other again now the truth is out.
“It creates a dark moment. But for me it’s the dark before the dawn. When the truth comes out and people have to say who they are and what they think, you get to know who they are.
“I think that’s the cleansing before you get to the other side that is understanding and moving forward in our relationship.”
This clears up a couple of things for me. One is that whatever dalliance Will and Jada had with Scientology is over now because Scientology is dead set against psychotherapy you don’t pay them for. Will not only going to therapy but admitting to it is an indication of that. (As background if you’re not familiar, Will and Jada had a now-closed private school based on Scientology teaching principles and run by primarily Scientology teachers. They donated money to Scientology organizations and while they denied being Scientologists they’ve expressed many personal philosophies consistent with the cult’s teachings, including seeing their children as adults in little bodies. They’ve since stepped back from that somewhat. Plus After Earth was said to be based on Scientology lore.) The other is that they did have problems like a lot of couples, the tabloids were right, and they put in the work to stay together. There’s something admirable about the fact that they’re admitting to that. While I don’t always agree with the things they say, they’re open and don’t b.s. the press and I appreciate that.
photos credit: WENN.com
How do you know that the “counseling” isn’t just Scientology?
I doubt that he would use the word “counseling” if it were through Scientology. He would’ve said “auditing” if it were.
No-my point is he is trying to cover it up and make it look like they’re not COS.
Wonder if he would have said “auditing” because of the backlash they have already gotten for being associated with Scientology. I tend to believe it wasn’t through Scientology because I think that Scientology would put it out there for all to see that Will and Jada are a success story of their auditing and how wonderful auditing is (as it has also had much backlash).
Scientologists call it counselling when they’re trying to draw people in. That’s Scientology’s thing, unless you know about it, it all seems like some kind of self-help organisation until you’re in deep enough that backing out is tough.
The ‘auditing’ will be more like a normal counselling session until you’ve shown that you’ll tolerate some weirdness. With vulnerable people eg. addicts they recruit outside meetings, things will get super creepy fast, but lots of people spend months exploring Scientology before they experience anything a bit odd they wouldn’t of if they’d gone down some other self-help path.
I don’t know. I remember seeing an interview with Tom Cruise and he mentioned Scientology marriage counseling.
Actually, I just looked it up on their official website, and COS does offer marriage counseling. (They use the word “counseling”) So unfortunately, this does not necessarily mean that the Smiths are out of Scientology.
So they’re going back to being likable? Yessssa! Also, Is Jada’s face making a return too? Because that would be great.
I think they’ve had an open marriage for years. I don’t have any receipts, it’s just what I think. I’d imagine that at this point, it’s cheaper to keep her, so to speak, and basically just lead separate lives. I don’t believe that they are some great Hollywood romance, just a business relationship.
This makes me like them a lot more. Good to know they’re doing well now.
Counseling = auditing, at least that’s my guess.
You know… I know a lot of people begrudge them for allegedly having an open marriage and having rough patches in the marriage. My questions to all of you:
1 – why should they tell the world if they had an open marriage arrangement? That’s private. If they told us, it would be mayhem. These kinds of agreements need to stay private in order for them to work.
2 – why them having marriage troubles during their 2 decades-long-blended-family-teenage-kids relationship is so wrong? I’m not married but from what I know many marriages go through the same thing. Rough, terrible moments, breaking points, good moments, etc. Why do we hate to see them fighting to stay together, and admitting it to us?
Oh I know. it’s also because for a long time – i remember – they were giving their “perfect marriage unsolicited TMI” vibe and people couldn’t buy it and started to call him gay because no one can be like that and be straight.
I know they can be irritating sometimes – but I know lots of people who also overshare and raise their kids in a very different way and go to churches i’ve never heard of. Difference is, they’re not beautiful black celebrities. Beautiful black celebrities can’t be married for that long, be successful,and likeable and normal. They MUST be lying and also terrible people.
This actually does sound a lot like a Sci “counseling” session. For marriages, there is a counseling that can be done where each party tells each other “their truth,” exposing all overts and withholds, and from there they are asked to “apply the conditions” and make amends to each other. This sounds pretty similar, and I agree he’s using general terminology to remove the Sci from the discussion and make it sound more accessible.
If they’re not in Scientology anymore, I’m just impressed they were able to leave with so little public controversy. Wonder how that happened.
I’m an ex-Scientologist. What they describe is exactly how Scientology Marriage Counseling (and yes, they do call it “counseling”) is done. The two people sit with an auditor and each tell their transgressions (known as “overts” in Scientology.)
This writer needs to do his homework.
may I ask about the ben foster/laura prepon/ danny masterson situation? foster has been linked to masterson clique from the early 2000’s and now is dating prepon. he never admitted it (frankly probably he was never asked about it, bc he’s not that big of a name) but I’ve seen pictures of him at several scientologists events and even posing with Carol masterson. It’s has been rumored his affiliation was one of the reasons of the break up with Robin Wright. Now dating prepon is basically outing himself as a scientologist, don’t you think?
I’m sorry. I really have no idea. I’ve been away from that scene for many years. There are a lot of sort of small time celebs who are connected by friendship or whatever to Scientology, but not necessarily in it wholeheartedly. He may be one of those. He’s not known as a “Scientology Celebrity” to any of the exes I know.
I don’t think they’re out of scientology as the cult itself use the word counseling, so Will might well be talking about scientology counseling. And it would be consistent with their history of denying or avoiding their association with the cult. Scientology has become the butt of the joke after the way sometimes they give crazy interviews like Cruise, Danny Masterson and Laura Prepon. The more outspoken ones, with the exception of Cruise, are totally blacklisted form A list circles and derided. Thats why the smartest ones members avoid exposing themselves as scientologists: it’s a career suicide.
Sadly it’s so hard for them to walk away. They’re brainwashed.