Jada Pinkett Smith has revealed she once had a “little porn addiction” before she was in a relationship with actor Will Smith, to whom she has now been married for 22 years.
The American actor spoke about her “unhealthy relationship” with pornography on the latest episode of her Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk, which she hosts with her daughter Willow and mother Adrienne.
Pinkett Smith explained that she began watching a lot of pornography during a period when she was trying to practise abstinence.
When Willow, 18, asked whether or not the compulsion came from an emotional place, Pinkett Smith said that it did and added that it felt like it she was “filling an emptiness” by watching porn.
“But it’s actually not,” she continued, “and reading some of the effects of pornography, like the idea that it gives you false expectations… I can definitely see that with men".
The three women went on to discuss some of the damaging myths pornography can perpetuate about sex and sexuality.
“A woman should always be willing and ready, he should be ready to have sex however he wants and you should enjoy it no matter what,” Pinkett Smith said. “In pornography you’re never tired.”
Adrienne added that porn is “unnatural”, but went on to explain that watching it had been beneficial for her.
“I grew up in a household that created a lot of shame. So there’s something about [watching porn] that was freeing.”
Pinkett Smith went on to explain how watching pornography that prioritises women’s needs could provoke important social change.
“I don’t really think we know culturally what women like in regards to sex, because women have not been allowed to explore in the same way as men," she said.
"We’re just getting to the point where we’re even giving ourselves the opportunity to explore.”
You can watch the full episode of Red Table Talk here.
