Musician Willow Smith is riding high following the release of “Transparent Soul,” her viral surf rock song featuring Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. She’s also opening up about her life—on the April 28 episode of Red Table Talk, the 20-year-old came out as polyamorous.
“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,” Smith said on the Facebook Watch show. “So I was like, how can I structure the way that I approach relationships with that in mind? Also, doing research into polyamory, the main reasons why monogamous relationships— or why marriage– why divorces happen is infidelity.”
The definition of polyamory is personal to each person and can differ, but essentially, it is the practice of loving more than one person at one time. It does not have to include sex (although it can) and is not synonymous with open relationships. Polyamory is an opportunity to be open about what love looks like and how it is shared/received. As is true with any relationship, communication and safety are most important.
Smith also shared that she first thought of polyamory in a nonsexual way. This allowed her think of ways to be a more ethical partner by her own definition.
“I mean, I’ll give you an example. 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 gonna be the person to say, you know, ‘Just because I don’t have these needs, you can’t have them either?,’ she said. “And so that’s kind of one of the reasons why I actually was interested in poly because I was introduced to it through kind of a nonsexual lens. In my friend group, I’m the only polyamorous person, and I have the least sex out of all of my friends.”
Willow’s mother, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, talked about how she reacted to Willow’s revelation. “When you were like, ‘Hey, this is my get down’, I was like, ‘I totally get it'”, Jada revealed. “Wanting to set up your life in a way that you can have what it is that you want, I think anything goes as long as the intentions are clear.”
Watch the full polyamory episode of Red Table Talk here.