After revealing that his wife Jodie Turner-Smith had proposed to him in a Jimmy Fallon interview, Joshua Jackson is now making clear his feelings on the backlash. In a recent interview with Refinery 29, Jackson admits that he could have handled the story differently, but the public reaction to it was eye-opening. “So 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,” he said.
Related: Celebrity engagements in 2021: All the stars getting married.
Jackson’s casual re-telling of their proposal story hinted at just how comfortable he was with shaking up gender norms in his relationship. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t expect the slew of hateful messages directed to his wife’s social media accounts. “Good God, you cannot believe the things people were leaving my wife on Instagram,” he remarked. “She did it. I said ‘yes.’ We’re happy. That’s it. That’s all you need to know.”
Joshua and Jodie have been ignoring the naysayers for a while
Critics were apparently triggered by the idea of a woman asking a man to marry her, something that Jackson doesn’t care to give attention to, saying flat out, “ for anybody who is freaked out by a woman claiming her own space, shut the fuck up.”
Jackson and Turner-Smith met at a 2018 party which turned into a one-night stand. They continued to date until their marriage in 2019, followed by the birth of their daughter a year later. Since they’ve taken their interracial relationship public, they’ve seemingly been the subject of discussion online. For Jackson, the comments have been jarring. “That has been a real education for me as a white man, truly. The way people get in her comments and the ignorance and ugliness that comes her way is truly shocking.”
Related: Celebrity babies born in 2021.
For Jackson, dating a Black woman has been an education
Jackson acknowledges the nuances within the racist messages and how they effect Black women specifically. “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 OK. We have a long way to go.” He goes on to compare the ‘strong Black woman’ schema to being in a golden cage. “I think it’s like a golden cage, the concept of the strong Black woman. 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.”
Hmm…perceptive and emotionally intelligent — it’s really no wonder Joshua can’t shake his association to his Dawson’s Creek character Pacey Witter.
