Willow Smith announces she is polyamorous on 'Red Table Talk,' reveals 'only' reason she would get married
Smith wants others to "create a relationship style that works for you."
Willow Smith announced she is polyamorous on Wednesday's episode of "Red Table Talk."
This comes nearly two years after the "Transparent Soul" singer first expressed her interest in having multiple partners in a relationship. In June 2019, she discussed polyamorous relationships and her love for "men and women equally" in an episode of the Facebook Watch talk show.
In the latest episode of "Red Table Talk," Smith had a generational conversation about marriage and monogamy with mom Jada Pinkett Smith and grandmother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, aka "Gammy."
"With polyamory, I feel like the main foundation is the freedom to be able to create a relationship style that works for you and not just stepping into monogamy because that's what everyone around you says is the right thing to do. So I was like, how can I structure the way that I approach relationships with that in mind?" Smith said.
The 20-year-old said in her research into polyamory she found that one of the main reasons why monogamous relationships -- or marriage -- often fail and result in divorce is infidelity.
When Banfield-Norris expressed that, to her, it seems polyamorous relationships are "all just centered around sex," Smith responded with a very personal example as to why that isn't necessarily true.
"I mean, I'll give you an example. Let's say you haven't always been the kind of person that wanted to have sex all the time. But your partner is. Are you gonna be the person to say, you know, 'Just because I don't have these needs, you can't have them either?'" the "I Am Legend" actress reasoned.
Smith continued, "And so that's kind of one of the reasons why I actually was interested in poly because I was introduced to it through kind of a nonsexual lens. In my friend group, I'm the only polyamorous person, and I have the least sex out of all of my friends."
As for how Pinkett Smith reacted to her daughter's revelation, she said "there's a lot of beauty that sits outside of the conventional boxes."
Despite having had reservations about the idea of polyamory in the trio's previous discussion, Banfield-Norris revealed she and her current husband, Rodney, actually considered it and had a "conversation" about it.
That said, Banfield-Norris ultimately admitted she doesn't understand how her granddaughter is able to equally love multiple people within a relationship.
Pinkett Smith -- who has been married to husband Will Smith since 1997 -- said she thinks most people are monogamous because they "feel like they have no other choice" and the idea that monogamy is the only choice is "deeply antiquated and no longer works."
Smith said she has experienced "fits of jealousy" in the past and doesn't see herself having more than two other partners at a time. The "Whip My Hair" singer also said the "only" way she sees herself getting married is if it was for a financial purpose.
"The history of marriage really irks me," Smith said. "Just the history of marriage as a whole and what it has represented over the years, for women in particular."
In the end, Pinkett Smith said she just wants her daughter to be with someone who loves her the way she deserves to be loved.
"Just like I told you the other day," Pinkett Smith said, "as long as you are learning to have the greatest love affair with Willow, I'm OK with whatever you do."
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