Over 28 years since they first laid eyes on each other, Will, 53, and Jada, 50, have two kids together who also enjoy the showbiz spotlight: Jaden, 23, and Willow, 21, as well as Will’s first son Trey from his marriage to Zampino.

So what do we know about their high-profile, high-octane relationship?

Jada’s reluctance to get married

Will proposed to Jada when she was pregnant with Jaden in her late 20s and she said yes. But according to multiple sources, Jada didn’t actually want to get married and even cried at her “horrible” wedding in Maryland. She claims that it was her mother who “forced” her to walk down the aisle.

In Will’s eponymous memoir, Will, he said that that was the first of many compromises Jada made for their relationship.

The cheating rumours

Even before their open marriage, rumours began circulating that Jada was hooking up with her Hawthorne co-star Marc Anthony – who was married to Jennifer Lopez at the time. Although all the claims were denied, there was later speculation of an affair between Will and Margot Robbie during the filming of Focus. This was also dismissed as the stars insisted their relationship was completely platonic.

They’ve argued – a lot

One of their most well-known quarrels came after Will’s surprise gift for his wife’s 40th birthday. He spent three years planning a heartfelt documentary about her life and lineage, preparing the commissioned piece for her special day. Her response? She was widely quoted as calling it “the most disgusting display of ego I have ever seen in my life”. Not too surprisingly, they had an argument over it and later faced divorce rumours, which they denied.

They’ve had many more disputes, which isn’t uncommon with married couples, but some are definitely more shocking than others.

They’re in an open relationship

In an interview with GQ in late 2021, Will opened up about his non-monogamous marriage to Jada. The I Am Legend actor confirmed that both he and his wife have engaged in sexual relationships with other people. Although he didn’t go into detail about the who and what, Will was unreserved about discussing the state of his relationship with Jada, which included their mindset towards traditional marriage.

In 2017, there were rumours that the couple was into “swinging” too, which Jada addressed on Watch What Happens Next. “That’s the craziest one. And I’m like, yo, I wish. I wish,” she said.

Jada’s unconventional lifestyle vs Will’s Christian upbringing

Will, who has a Christian background, was raised with different morals compared to Jada, who has “never believed in conventional marriage”, he told GQ.

But his own values have apparently swayed over the years. He said he needed an intimacy coach to help him with his thoughts of having a “harem of girlfriends”, which included fantasies with Misty Copeland and Halle Berry. “It doesn’t make me a bad person that I’m married and I think Halle is beautiful,” he said, according to multiple sources. “Whereas in my mind, in my Christian upbringing, even my thoughts were sins.”

Meanwhile, the couple have a parenting style that the media calls “very relaxed”, which has been criticised by many.

Jada’s ‘entanglement’ with August Alsina

The Matrix actress hosts a “candid conversation” web show called Red Table Talk together with daughter Willow and mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris. In a revelatory episode in 2020, Jada invited her husband to talk about something very sensitive and heartbreaking: her “entanglement”, aka affair, with then-22-year-old rapper August Alsina. Jada was nearly double his age at the time of their fling, per Vulture.

“I just wanted to feel good, it had been so long since I felt good,” she said during the episode. Although Will looked visibly uncomfortable throughout the conversation, the couple ended on a high note, saying, “We ride together. We die together. Bad marriage for life,” referencing a line from Will’s Bad Boys films.

But what about the slap?

Jada finally broke her silence over two months later, saying she hopes the boys “talk this out and reconcile” via her talk show. She added, “Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years, and that’s keep figuring out this thing called life together.”

Will, who has been married twice, has talked about how his first divorce was an “ultimate failure” and his regret won’t let him make the same choice again. “Divorce can’t be an option,” he told multiple interviewers. In a 2021 interview with Vanity Fair, he said: “Marriage for us can’t be a prison. And I don’t suggest our road for anybody.”