Nia Long, who first became known to audiences as Will Smith’s love interest on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” got candid in a recent interview about how “vulnerable” Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith have been about their personal lives.
In the last few weeks, the couple have been in the spotlight since singer August Alsina spoke about his relationship with Pinkett Smith, 48, in an interview. The actress and producer later confirmed that she and the 27-year-old were romantically linked during a break with her husband.
“It’s a situation that I consider private. This is a very personal journey that became very public,” the “Girls Trip” actress said last week.
She would go on to describe her relationship with Alsina as an “entanglement,” that she said was due to her own personal battles. Smith interviewed her on her own Facebook Watch show “Red Table Talk.”
Long, who has been longtime friends with the actors, said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that she praises the couple for having the “courage” to be vulnerable enough to share their relationship woes. Long was being interviewed about her new Netflix film “Fatal Affair.”
“I feel bad for Will and Jada right now, because they’ve been extremely vulnerable with their personal story. And it takes a lot of courage to do that,” Long said, referring to the pair’s recent conversation during an episode of “Red Table Talk.”
“When you have a show like ‘Red Table Talk,' you want to be what you are sharing with the world, and that’s gotta be a tremendous amount of pressure,” Long said. “We all have our ups and downs with love. Love is a complicated thing.”
Long said she was disappointed that Smith, whom she referred to as an “icon,” was being criticized by the public concerning his handling of Pinkett Smith’s revelation. She said the public should “back off and leave them alone.”
“I think everybody has to define their relationship for themselves,” Long said. “Like, everyone has a different understanding, a different agreement. And you have to do what works for your particular family.”
Omar Epps, who costars in “Fatal Affair,” also chimed in about the discussion about how the Smiths have opened their relationship for public view. Epps has been married to his wife Keisha since 2005. Epps said that Smith and Pinkett Smith deciding to stay together despite separations and romantic relationships with other people is not uncommon.
Complicated relationships and infidelity are two of the primary elements covered in their film “Fatal Affair.” Long stars as Ellie, a lawyer who is trying to rebuild her marriage but has a chance encounter with an old flame named David (Epps), who proves to be dangerous, unstable and obsessive.
See a preview of their film, which airs on Netflix on Thursday, July 16, below.
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