Joshua Jackson Slams 'Racist, Misogynistic' Criticism Of His Wife, Jodie Turner-Smith

Joshua Jackson hit back at “racist, misogynistic” trolls after revealing that Jodie Turner-Smith proposed to him

Joshua Jackson has come a long way from his days as a ’90s teen heartthrob. Though we’ll forever be on Team Pacey after his days on Dawson’s Creek, the actor is making headlines for so much more now — like defending his wife, Jodie Turner-Smith, from the worst of the internet’s trolls.

Recently, Jackson revealed in an interview that it was Turner-Smith who proposed to him — not the other way around, which is arguably more traditional in the U.S. I mean, whatever works for their relationship, right? Not according to the internet, where a surprisingly huge number of people took issue with this and criticized Turner-Smith for turning gender roles on their head. In a new interview with Refinery29, Jackson hit back at all those trolls.

“For anybody who is freaked out by a woman claiming her own space, shut the fuck up,” he said, adding that he sometimes can’t 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,” Jackson continued.

But Jackson didn’t stop there. He went on to say that the experience had opened his eyes to some of the differences between how he, a white man, and his wife, a Black woman, are forced to navigate the world.

“That has been a real education for me as a white man, truly,” he said. “The way people get in her comments and the ignorance and ugliness that comes her way is truly shocking. 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.”

Really, if you know of any men who need a masterclass in how to support the women in their life, just direct them to this interview to see how Jackson stands up for Turner-Smith.

“I think it’s like a golden cage, the concept of the strong Black woman,” he said. “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 armour that she has to put on every morning to just navigate being alive.”