Jada Pinkett Smith says she was addicted to porn, thought it was filling an emptiness
On the latest episode of her hit Facebook series, "Red Table Talk," actress Jada Pinkett Smith and her team discussed the unhealthy effects of porn.
On Monday's episode of RTT, Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow, and her mom Adrienne explored the negative effect on pornography on relationships.
"Back in the day I had a little porn addiction, but I wasn't in a relationship when I had a porn addiction, believe it or not, thank goodness," the actress admitted while the trio got ready before heading to the table.
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“I actually feel like I was using ‘addiction’ a little lightly. And maybe I’ll say now that I had an unhealthy relationship to porn at one point in my life where I was trying to practice abstinence,” Pinkett Smith, who's been married to Will Smith for over 20 years, added.
Her 18-year-old daughter asked if her "fixation" to porn came from an "emotional" place. The honest mother shared that it did.
"It was actually, like, filling, like, an emptiness. At least you think it is, but it's actually not," Pinkett Smith explained, before further examining the effect porn has on sexual intimacy.
"Actually reading some of the effects of pornography, the idea that it gives you false expectations as far as sexual interactions, I can definitely see that with men. How a woman should always be willing and ready. She should be ready to have sex however he wants, in any position, anywhere, and you should enjoy it no matter what. And it shouldn't just be joy, but it should be exhilaration,” she continued. "In pornography, you’re never tired. There's never a 'no,' so I can definitely see how that can create an unrealistic expectation."
In the 23-minute episode, Pinkett Smith and her family invited a special guest couple who explained how being addicted to porn almost destroyed their marriage. They went on to share how "detrimental" pornography can be to a person’s career and personal relationships.
Pinkett Smith said that 40 million people in the United States are bound by an addiction to sexual content on the internet. The RTT co-host is not the only one in Hollywood to speak out against the industry. In 2017, comedian Chris Rock opened up about struggling with a porn addiction that ended his 16-year marriage to Malaak Compton.
Actor Terry Crews, who turned to faith, also came forward to speak out against pornography. In 2016, Crews posted a video on Facebook admitting that his obsession with X-rated content ended his marriage to Rebecca King Crews.
"It changes the way you think about people. People become objects," he said. "It affected everything. I didn't tell my wife ... didn't tell my friends. Nobody knew, but the internet allowed that little secret to just stay and grow. It was something that my wife was literally like, 'I don't know you anymore. I'm out of here.'"
"Pornography really, really messed up my life in a lot of ways," Crews added. Fortunately, God restored Crews and his marriage and now the couple use their influence to share their testimony with others.
Researchers have found that Pinkett Smith and Crews' experience is the norm for porn users. Research published last Summer found that porn and loneliness fuel each other in a "vicious cycle."
