Will Smith’s birthday gift for wife Jada Pinkett’s birthday in 2011 backfired horribly, as she branded the gesture a “ridiculous display of his ego”, and caused Will to hit a ‘low point’
A resurfaced video of Jada Pinkett Smith’s reaction to husband Will Smith’s birthday surprise to her has divided opinions online.
Will spent three years planning a surprise party for his wife Jada’s 40th birthday party – only for her to not quite display the reaction he expected.
In fact, her reaction was so bad, that it sent Will into a ‘low point’, and Jada admitted it ended up being the ‘turning point’ in their relationship.
The two opened up about the incident in an episode of the Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk , which Jada hosts alongside her daughter Willow and her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris.
“I think the turning point in our relationship for me happened when I turned 40. That’s when I had a mid-life crisis,” Jada recalled.
“Yeah, your 40th birthday was my low point,” Will responded.
He then detailed the lengths he went to plan Jada’s party and how he started the preparations in advance.
“The day after her 37th birthday, I hired a team to orchestrate her 40th birthday,” he said.
While turning to face his daughter Willow, he continued: “I hired a documentary team, I traced mommy’s family roots.
“Her 40th birthday was going to be my thing!”
Jada then interrupted, saying: “It was going to be a splash.”
Will had also arranged a performance from Mary J. Blige in the hopes it was going to lift her out of her “mid-life crisis” and be his “deepest, most beautiful proclamation of love.”
But Jada didn’t exactly see it this way, as she admitted she thought it was a “ridiculous display” of his “ego.”
Will was “crushed,” he said although he agreed in some way.
The clip was re-shared on Reddit recently, causing many people to be surprised to hear about Jada’s reaction.
One person commented: “Wow…. What the f**k,” before referring to Jada as ‘ungrateful’.
Another wrote: “Imagine being married to someone that spent literally years planning a special event for you and instead of gratitude you say it’s all to feed their ego… marital bliss.”
A third wrote: “Treat her like she’s a celebrity, she’ll treat you like a fan.”
But others understood why she reacted like that, as one said: “The way he described it sounded like it was to feed his own ego.”
This comes as Will has been banned from the Oscars for 10 years after slapping Chris Rock during the award’s show.
The Academy made the announcement in a letter sent by president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson. It said the Academy said the 94th Oscars had been “overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behaviour we saw Mr Smith exhibit on stage”.
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