A podcast interview in November 2023 sent shockwaves through Hollywood when a man who described himself as Will Smith’s close friend and former assistant of nearly 40 years accused the actor of having a sexual encounter with another man. The claim, made by Brother Bilal on the *Unwine with Tasha K* podcast, alleged that he had walked in on Smith and actor Duane Martin in a dressing room. The story went viral within hours, drawing swift denials from both Smith and Martin’s camps, with Smith’s representatives calling the allegations “completely fabricated and unequivocally false. ”
Jada Pinkett Smith addressed the controversy publicly, appearing on *The Breakfast Club* to dismiss the claims as nonsense.
She said her husband laughed when he heard the accusations because they were so absurd, and she announced that the couple planned to pursue legal action. Her response, summed up in a now-famous two-word phrase, sparked a wave of reactions across social media. The situation took a legal turn in December 2025 when Bilal filed a $3 million lawsuit against Jada, alleging that she had threatened him at a 2021 birthday party for Will Smith. Jada’s legal team moved to dismiss the case under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, arguing it was designed to silence protected speech.
The judge agreed, and by April 2026, Jada was seeking tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees from Bilal after winning the dismissal. That controversy is recent, but the history of strained marriages in Hollywood runs deep, particularly during the studio era when public image was strictly controlled. In the 1940s and 1950s, studios had immense power over actors’ careers, and being openly gay was considered career-ending. Many actors were pressured into marriages to maintain a public facade, often leaving the women involved to discover the truth in devastating ways.
One of the most tragic examples involved Judy Garland and her marriage to director Vincente Minnelli in 1945. Garland was 23 when she married the director of *Meet Me in St. Louis*. Unbeknownst to her, Minnelli had reportedly lived openly as a gay man in New York before joining the studio system, where his personal life was buried to protect his career.
Garland reportedly discovered the truth when she walked in on him in bed with their gardener, and later with a bit player from MGM. According to biographers, the discovery led to a suicide attempt and a breakdown that landed her in the hospital with nervous exhaustion in 1947. The marriage ended by 1949. Garland’s history repeated itself when she married again, this time to Mark Herron, who biographers noted was also gay and who, according to accounts, physically abused her before she left him.
The pattern continued into the next generation. In March 1967, Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland’s daughter, married songwriter Peter Allen. She was 21 and believed she had found her soulmate. On her wedding night, she returned to her honeymoon suite to find Allen in bed with another man.
In a later interview, she spoke openly about the discovery, saying that she had not been told he was gay and that she had found out in the most direct way possible. She also stated that the shock of that moment was so profound that she made a point of never surprising anyone again. The situation was complicated further by the revelation that Allen was having an affair with Mark Herron, who was Judy Garland’s husband at the time. Despite the betrayal, Liza stayed in the marriage for eight years.
Her story mirrored her mother’s in other ways, as biographers noted both women struggled with deep insecurities that made them vulnerable to emotionally safe men who could offer warmth without physical pressure. Angela Lansbury’s first marriage was shorter and ended with less drama but no less hurt. In 1945, at age 19, she married Richard Cromwell, an older established actor who had been the subject of gay rumors for years. Lansbury later described herself as a naive newcomer who was dazzled by his charm and his connection to the old Hollywood world.
She was unaware of the rumors. The marriage lasted less than a year and ended when Cromwell left her a handwritten note that simply said he could not go on. There was no conversation, no explanation. Lansbury later reflected that the marriage probably had not been a good idea, a clear understatement, but she was one of the few women on this list who learned the lesson once.
She remarried Peter Shaw, and that marriage lasted over five decades until his death. Fran Drescher’s story ended differently, with an unusual friendship that survived the truth. Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson met as teenagers and married in 1978. They became professional partners, creating and producing *The Nanny* together.
Behind the scenes, Jacobson was struggling with his identity, telling Fran during the marriage that he might be bisexual but that he did not want to pursue it. Fran has said in interviews that his internal conflict manifested as anger and controlling behavior, which she believes was a result of suppressing his true nature. In 1999, after 21 years of marriage, Fran initiated the divorce. Jacobson did not want the separation, and the split was so painful that they did not speak for a year.
The turning point came in 2000 when Fran was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Upon hearing the news, Jacobson broke down, and the anger between them dissolved. Two years after the divorce, Jacobson told Fran the full truth: he was gay, and he wanted her to hear it directly from him so she would not be caught off guard by someone else. In 2011, the two turned their real-life story into a sitcom called *Happily Divorced*, which was based on their experience of living together after the truth came out.
Rather than losing each other to bitterness, they rebuilt their relationship as best friends. Fran has said her parents still view her ex-husband as a son, and in interviews she refers to him affectionately as her gay ex-husband.
