Actress Jada: I was so unhappy I wanted to drive my car off a cliff
JADA PINKETT SMITH has revealed she considered suicide during a dark chapter of her marriage to Will Smith.
The actress has been married for nearly 30 years to the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air star, who gained notoriety last year when he slapped Oscars host Chris Rock on stage for making a joke about his wife’s hairloss condition alopecia.
And in a harrowing interview today, Pinkett Smith, 52, describes how she came close to breaking point, and even considered driving off a cliff, because she felt she could ‘no longer be human’ in their troubled relationship.
When she admitted her thoughts to friends they found it ‘tough’, she says, adding: ‘They now know they were by my side while I was thinking, “This suicide has to look like an accident, so the children aren’t traumatised. And I don’t just want to be injured – it has to be final.”’
When her husband learnt of the episode, which is described in her new memoir, Worthy, she says he simply said: ‘Damn!’
While it was a distressing moment in her life, with the passage of time she has felt comfortable sharing it with her children, Jaden, 25, and Willow, 23, and stepson Trey, 31. ‘They already knew,’ she explains. ‘I know there are pros and cons to a parent being honest, but my parenting is very open. I’ve always said to my children, “I’m your mother but I’m also a human being.”’
Her marriage to Smith – once one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars – has long been a subject of public fascination, particularly since she revealed earlier this year that they had lived apart for six years but were still ‘together’.
They first met in 1994 on the set of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air and married in 1997. Speculation began to mount about their relationship in 2013 when it was suggested they had been romantically involved with other people.
On her podcast, Red Table Talk, in 2020, Pinkett Smith described her ‘entanglement’ with a singer-songwriter 19 years her junior called August Alsina. But it was the shocking confrontation at the Oscars in March last year that brought their unconventional marriage to the world’s attention. As comedian Rock presented the Best Documentary Feature award, he made a quip about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head – a style she adopted in 2021 due to the condition alopecia areata.
Smith, who was nominated for Best Actor and sitting in the front row, leapt to his feet, stormed on stage and slapped Rock across the face, before returning to his seat and yelling: ‘Keep my wife’s name out your f ****** mouth!’
In an awkward moment for the organisers of the Academy Awards, Smith won the Best Actor award later in the evening for King Richard – his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams. He was later banned from the Oscars for ten years. Reflecting on the incident, Pinkett Smith says she was ‘glad’ she attended the Oscars, despite the fallout, as it led to many ‘positive things’ in their relationship.
‘I don’t just want to be injured, it has to be final’
‘I’m your mother, but I’m also a human being’