In a Wednesday video interview (embedded) with HuffPost Live, Jada Pinkett Smith addressed long-standing rumors that she and Will Smith have an open marriage -- more or less.
Jada Pinkett Smith, 41, and Will Smith, 46, have been married for nearly 16 years. She told HuffPost Live's Marc Lamont Hill:
I've always told Will, "You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay." Because at the end of the day, Will is his own man. I'm here as his partner, but he is his own man. He has to decide who he wants to be and that's not for me to do for him. Or vice versa.
The couple first met on the set of Smith's 1990s sitcom, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." They were married in a small ceremony in 1997.
In 2008, talk of the couple having an open marriage began, when tabloids claimed the television and movie star said his wife, similarly star, could be with another man if she felt she needed and wanted to.
While not directly confirming that Smith has taken advantage of the "offer" and gone outside their marriage, Pinkett Smith said that she doesn't think that it's easy to be married to anyone as you have to enter the relationship knowing that it's going to be lifetime one.
I don't think it's easy to be married to anyone. I think that you have to go into a relationship knowing -- especially when you're dedicating yourself to someone for the rest of your life -- this is a life partnership.
She added that Smith remains her best friend. She said:
He's my best friend. He's been by my side through some of the most difficult parts of my life. And so that's something you can never take away.
In August of last year, the then-40-year-old actress showed off an impressive bikini body, tweeting to her followers that women get better with age.
Along with husband and actor Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith has two children, Willow and Jaden.
