Actress Jurnee Smollett was married to musician Josiah Bell for ten years before she filed for divorce in March 2020. Smollett and Bell share a son, six-year-old Hunter Zion Bell.
The "Lovecraft Country" actress has been through a rough patch in her personal life in the past few years. This started when her father, whom she had just reconnected with, died in 2015. A few years later, her brother, who she adores, was arrested for lying to the police that he had been a victim of a hate crime.
Fast forward to 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic came and was a harsh era for many people, not least Smollett, who filed for divorce from her husband just as the lockdowns and the dreaded quarantine period were beginning. The couple had had a seemingly amicable marriage up to that point.
Josiah Bell and Jurnee Smollett at the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, California on January 29, 2017 | Source: Getty Images
Jurnee Smollett Had Been Best Friends with Josiah Bell before They Started Dating
In an interview, two and half years into her marriage to Bell, Smollett explained that their marriage, at that stage, had not had too many problems. She attributed this to the fact that they had gotten to know each other in their most vulnerable situations before committing. She said:
"We were best friends before we started even dating, so we had this really great foundation. I think one of the challenging things about any lasting relationship is that you have to be so vulnerable."
The interview came after Smollett had starred in Tyler Perry's film, "Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor," which highlights a common deception in life and marriage.
Jurnee Smollett and Josiah Bell at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on January 23, 2016 | Source: Getty Images
Jurnee Smollett and Josiah Bell Seemed to Be Very Happy Welcoming Their First Child
Smollett and Bell announced that they were expecting in June 2016. On October 31, the couple welcomed their first and only child, Hunter Zion Bell.
Four months into parenthood, the couple was still as excited about their baby as they had been about the pregnancy the previous year. Smollett talked about her concise experience as a mother in March 2021, saying:
“He’s teaching me so much about myself. He’s teaching me so much about love.I see myself in him, and I start to love that about myself even more.”
Jurnee Smollett and Josiah Bell attend the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California on February 28, 2016 | Source: Getty Images
There Were Some Signs That Jurnee Smollett's Marriage Was on the Rocks
Although much of it became more apparent in retrospect, there were some warning signs that not all was well with the Smollett-Bell household. The musician had been conspicuously absent from his wife's promotional tour of the early 2020 movie, "Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn."
When Smollett filed for divorce in March 2020, the duo had last made a red carpet appearance together in 2018. Furthermore, they had not posted each other on social media for five months before the divorce application. The last post was in October 2019, when Bell wished his wife a happy birthday message.
The divorce proceedings did not go smoothly, as there were some delays in finalizing the process. There were even warnings from the court that the application could be thrown out if they continually failed to settle the case.
Jurnee Smollett Thinks Being a Single Working Mom Is Both a Blessing and a Challenge
The busy actress has been a single parent since 2020. Jurnee Smollett has had to find a balance between being there for her son and making a living through her acting career.
She says that the situation has not been easy for her, but it helps that her job allows her to take her baby wherever she goes. That is something that not many mothers have the privilege of.
In an interview, Smollett explained the most significant challenge she had was trying to be a perfect mother, which took a lot out of her and forced her to rethink how she was going about her parenthood.
She pointed out, "Subconsciously, I based goals of perfection on a sort of outward consensus of motherhood. However, inward lies the instructions of what motherhood should look like for ME. Only me and no one else." Although single motherhood seems to have been challenging for Smollett, it sounds like things are getting better.
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