Joshua Jackson Slams Trolls Criticizing Wife Jodie Turner-Smith for This
He has a message for "anybody who is freaked out by a woman claiming her own space."
Joshua Jackson is setting the record straight on how he got engaged and telling anyone who has a problem with it to keep their mouth shut. Jackson married fellow actor Jodie Turner-Smith in December 2019, and they welcomed a baby in April 2020. In a recent interview, Jackson revealed that Turner-Smith was the one to propose to him. While it's no surprise that the move is considered untraditional by some, it got a response that went far beyond that, with Turner-Smith receiving sexist and racist comments online.
Now, Jackson has spoken out about the hate that Turner-Smith received and shared why it was a "real education" for him to see what she goes through simply being a Black woman living her life. Read on to find out more about their proposal and to see how Jackson responded to the vitriol.
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Jackson shared that Turner-Smith proposed in a July interview.
When appearing on The Tonight Show in July, Jackson shared the story of how Turner-Smith proposed to him. Host Jimmy Fallon asked if Jackson knew he was "destined" to marry her, and the actor replied, "I knew the moment she asked me." He continued, "She asked me, yeah, on New Year's Eve. We were in Nicaragua. It was very beautiful, incredibly romantic. We were walking down the beach, and she asked me to marry her."
Fallon then asked if he knew it was going to happen beforehand, and Jackson said, "There was like a preamble. There was a lead-up to it. I did not know [it was going to happen], but she was quite adamant, and she was right. This is the best choice I ever made."
Turner-Smith received racist and sexist comments in response.
According to a new Refinery29 interview with Jackson, Turner-Smith received offensive comments in response to the news that she proposed to her husband.
"I accidentally threw my wife under the bus because that story was told quickly and it didn't give the full context and holy Jesus, the internet is racist and misogynist," Jackson told Refinery29. He then explained that he later proposed to Turner-Smith, too.
"So yes, we were in Nicaragua on a beautiful moonlit night, it could not possibly have been more romantic. And yes, my wife did propose to me and yes, I did say yes, but what I didn't say in that interview was there was a caveat, which is that I'm still old school enough that I said, 'This is a yes, but you have to give me the opportunity [to do it too],'" the Dawson's Creek actor said. He told Turner-Smith that he wanted to ask her father and her stepfather for her hand in marriage and to propose to her again by getting down on one knee. "So, that's actually how the story ended up," he said.
Jackson told trolls harassing his wife to "shut the f*** up."
Jackson added, though, that there shouldn't have been hateful backlash against his wife, no matter how their engagement went down. "[F]or anybody who is freaked out by a woman claiming her own space, shut the f*** up," he told Refinery29. "Good God, you cannot believe the things people were leaving my wife on Instagram. She did it. I said 'yes.' We're happy. That's it. That's all you need to know."
He added that the situation "has been a real education for [him] as a white man." He explained, "The way people get in her comments and the ignorance and ugliness that comes her way is truly shocking. And it has been a necessary, but an unpleasant education in just the way people relate to Black bodies in general, but Black female bodies in specific. It is not okay. We have a long way to go."
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He admires his wife, but wishes she didn't have to go through things like this at all.
In the interview, Jackson said, "I think it's like a golden cage, the concept of the strong Black woman." He explained, more specifically, "I would wish for my wife that she would not have to rise above with such amazing strength and grace, above the ugliness that people throw at her on a day to day. I am impressed with her that she does it, but I would wish that that would not be the armor that she has to put on every morning to just navigate being alive."
Jackson and Turner-Smith couldn't be happier in their relationship.
The acting couple isn't letting the hate get to them. Both Jackson and Turner-Smith are always enthusiastic about their relationship and how much they love each other.
"I think it's really beautiful to be with someone who is so supportive and so loving," Turner-Smith told People in April. "We're so similar in so many ways. We're like mirrors for each other. And I just really love that human being." The Without Remorse star added, "We high five each other all the time about how great we chose. We're like, 'You did a great job choosing,' and then we're like, 'Yeah, you too.'"
They've been together about three years now.
Turner-Smith and Jackson were first reported to be dating in 2018, but made their relationship official to the public in August 2019 when she posted a picture of them together on Instagram. The British actor wrote in the caption, "two people who only fancy each other a little bit."
