“What are the alternatives to divorce? Everybody thinks as soon as you find out there’s been an affair, you have to get a divorce,” Jada Smith asks Perel. Perel replies that ending is not always the right decision.
Jada Pinkett Smith opens up about the struggles in her relationship with husband Will Smith in the next episode of her Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk. In the teaser, Jada, 47, and her co-host/mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, have therapist Esther Perel at the Red Table Talk to talk about ups-and-downs of a relationship. “What are the alternatives to divorce? Everybody thinks as soon as you find out there’s been an affair, you have to get a divorce,” Jada asks Perel. Perel replies that ending is not always the right decision.
“I’m not of that persuasion because I think there are many relational betrayals. Contempt, neglect, violence, and indifference and nobody tells people, ‘Leave, leave, get the hell out’,” the therapist says. “Especially on women, it’s the real new pressure. God forbid, you still love the person who actually cheated on you. It’s like the shame of staying, now that you can go, you’ve got to get out,” Perel added. Jada said that she could understand a woman’s decision not to end the marriage immediately as she has been down the same path.
“I’m asked a lot about, ‘Is there infidelity in your relationship with Will?'” she said. “And it’s like, ‘No, but there’ve been other betrayals of the heart that have been far bigger than I could even think in regards to an infidelity situation.'” Both Jada and Will have been open about the ups and downs in their marriage. The Aladdin actor said he worked hard on their relationship when he appeared on Red Table Talk in October. “We broke up within our marriage and got back together again,” he said. “We had to rebuild with new rules.”
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