The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith has followed her famous parents into show business. Just 20-years-old, Willow launched her music career over 10 years ago when she was just 10, and she’s been in the spotlight ever since. In fact, her brother Jaden Smith is also pursuing a career in the entertainment industry — the Smiths are clearly one very talented family!
Willow burst onto the scene with her hit song “Whip My Hair” in 2010, for which she was even nominated for Video of the Year at the 2011 BET Awards. Soon after she signed to Jay-Z’s record label Roc Nation, before taking her time to release her debut album in 2015. Every two years since then, she’s released a new album, making her 2021 release “Lately I Feel Everything” her fourth studio album. That’s an incredible achievement for a 20-year-old!
The last few years have seen Willow grow up into the young woman that she is today, and that includes sharing more of who she is and her opinions to the public. In 2018 she began co-hosting the internet talk show “Red Table Talk” with her mom and her grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. The show has been highly acclaimed and even nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award. On the show, the three generations of women speak among themselves or with guests about current topics that are prevalent in society.
It was during an episode of “Red Table Talk” in April that Willow opened up about being polyamorous — wherein a person has consensual romantic relationships with more than one other person. Let’s find out more.
Will Smith, Willow Smith (2006), (Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty images)
On the episode of “Red Table Talk” that aired in April 2021, Willow Smith opened up to her mom, Jada Pinkett Smith, and grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, about being polyamorous. Defined as a relationship where all parties involved agree that it’s fine for everyone to have more than one romantic partner or be open to others, the term polyamory was coined in 1990, although the practice has existed for longer. The last 10 years have seen polyamory get more representation in the media.
When Willow opened up to her mom and grandma on their talk show, she explained her stance on polyamory:
“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.”
The Gen Z icon, who also revealed that she’s bisexual in 2019, added that she couldn’t see herself going “past two partners.” She continued:
“Also, doing research into polyamory, the main [reason] … why divorces happen is infidelity.”
The episode of “Red Table Talk” opened up the minds of everyone involved and while Willow’s mom and grandma were open to what she was saying, Banfield-Norris struggled to get her head fully around the subject. She told her granddaughter that she felt it was “really all just about sex.” But Willow denied this, stating:
“In my friend group, I’m the only polyamorous person. And I have the least sex out of all of my friends.”
Trey Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith (2019), (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
Willow continued, explaining:
“I was introduced to [polyamory] in a nonsexual way. 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 going to be the person that says, ‘just because I don’t have these needs you can’t have them either?’”
The panel was praised by other polyamorous individuals including a 22-year-old woman named Leanne, who runs the largest polyamorous education page in the UK, titled Poly Philia. She spoke with the BBC, praising Willow for bringing light to the topic, stating:
“It was such a great panel, and I agreed with everything she said especially as it’s from a diverse perspective.”
Willow mentioned her desire for a polyamorous relationship as far back as 2019 when she also came out as bisexual. On the 2019 episode of “Red Table Talk”, the musician stated:
“I love men and women equally and so I would definitely want one man, one woman. I feel like I could be polyfidelitous with those two people.”
She also discussed how people shy away from polyamory out of fear. She explained:
“This is the scariest thought that people shy away from, it’s the feeling of feeling like the person that you love is falling in love with somebody else. And that insecurity and fear just eats us alive. But that insecurity and fear is something that we need to overcome … Monogamy, I feel, actually inhibits you from learning those skills of evolving past those feelings of insecurity and jealousy.”
Willow Smith (2020), (Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 Presented by Amazon Prime Video)
What do you think about Willow Smith opening up about being polyamorous? Do you know of anyone who is polyamorous? If you found this article interesting, then pass it on to those you know.
Please scroll below for more stories 🙂
