Just weeks after Will Smith celebrated his 50th birthday by bungee jumping from a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, his wife Jada Pinkett Smith took part in her very own adrenaline-pumping stunt in the UAE. In celebration of her husband’s milestone birthday, the mother of Willow and Jaden decided to take an unconventional route away from the average birthday card and decided to instead embrace her husband’s thrill-seeking side by jumping out of a plane in Dubai as her gift to him. “He was like, ‘I want you to come to Dubai and I want to see you skydive. That is what I want for my birthday,’” Pinkett Smith told People. “I was like, ‘Really bro?’ I haven’t done a damn thing Will has wanted me to do in seven years,” added the actress, who has been married to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air star for 20 years.
“I’m not really adventurous in that way,” she admitted, speaking about her husband’s daredevil tendencies (in 2017, Smith described Sky Dive Dubai as “the most blissful experience of your life”). But after years of saying no to such stunts, she decided to give in. “This one year is a yes.”
The high-altitude stunt came after Smith uploaded a playful video to her Instagram page in honor of the newly-minted 50-year-old’s big day. In the DIY video, Jump by Van Halen plays in the background as a cut-out image of the actor dangles from a rope that’s attached to a helicopter flying over the Grand Canyon. Fireworks explode and a flock of birds fly by as the words “Happy 50th Birthday Willard” pop up across the screen.
“Here is what I love most about you turning 50 @willsmith… you are soaring high in your freedom and have more authentic happiness then I’ve ever seen you have before. You deserve every bit of it! Keep flying and keep doing you! Happy Birthday Willard!!! You make 50 look good!!!” she captioned the animation.
While the couple continue to serve up major #relationshipgoals, their two-decades-long marriage hasn’t been without its ups and downs. The actor recently joined the conversation on his wife’s Facebook Watch series “Red Table Talk,” alongside the couple’s daughter Willow Smith and his mother-in-law Adrienne Banfield-Jones. In the promotional clip for the online talk show, Smith got candid about his marriage to Pinkett Smith. “There was a period where mommy woke up and cried for 45 days straight. I started keeping a diary,” he said, addressing Willow before turning to his wife. “You missed some days,” she joked back. “It was every morning. I think that’s the worst I’ve ever felt in our marriage,” Smith continued. “I was failing miserably.”
But based on Pinkett Smith’s thoughtful gesture in Dubai, the happy couple appears to be stronger than ever. In addition to sky-diving, the actress also visited the Burj Khalifa, got up close and personal with an elephant, and took in the sunset in the desert. Meanwhile, the I Am Legend actor heralded his arrival in the emirate by heading up the Burj Khalifa, where he posted a selfie from the world’s tallest tower. The 50-year-old actor posed in the restroom of the building’s 154th floor, telling his 23 million followers he was “sitting on top of the world”. “The joke was too easy,” the comedian and musician admitted. Smith has previously shared his love for the region – particularly Dubai – revealing during a visit to the city last year that he loves its “energy”.
