Here’s What 15 Celebrities Have Said in Support of Open Relationships and Non-Monogamy

What are your thoughts on open relationships and non-monogamy? While monogamy still seems to be the aspired-for standard among most people, these celebrity open relationships stories go to show that not everyone feels that way.

In fact, there are many famous names who themselves have been in or are currently in open relationships or non-monogamous couplings.

Here are 15 quotes about celebrity open relationships and general thoughts on non-monogamy, courtesy of various queer and straight celebs:

1. Jada Pinkett Smith

“As far as somebody being right for us … is there somebody right for a nice night? Maybe. But somebody that can sustain our life and sustain what we’ve built together, absolutely not!”

The star later clarified that her quote doesn’t necessarily mean that she and her husband have an open relationship but rather a grown one, though her husband, Will Smith, eventually did confirm that they have an open relationship.

2. Mo’Nique

“Could Sid have sex outside of his marriage with me? Yes. That’s not a deal breaker. That’s not something that would make us say, ‘Pack your things and let’s end the marriage.’ What if it’s 20 times? So what? We’ve been best friends for over 25 years, and we truly know who we are.”

3. Dolly Parton

“If we cheat, we don’t know it, so if we do cheat, it’s very good for both of us. I don’t want to know it if he’s cheating on me. If I’m cheating on him, he wouldn’t want to know it. … And if we do, if that’s what’s making it work, then that’s fine too.”

4. Angelina Jolie

“I doubt that fidelity is absolutely essential for a relationship. … It’s worse to leave your partner and talk badly about him afterward.”

5. Margaret Cho

“I just don’t want to have sex with the same person my whole life — that’s just gross!”

6. Ethan Hawke

“People have such a childish view of monogamy and fidelity. ‘He’s cheated so he’s bad, she’s cheated so she’s bad,’ as opposed to a recognition that our species is not monogamous. If you really love somebody you want them to grow, but you don’t get to define how that happens.”

7. Gwyneth Paltrow

“I think that if the idea of being committed to someone is important to you, you begin to value certain parts of your social life over another. No couple is the same, and as such, every couple takes on different challenges. I would like to think that I would be forgiving and/or forgiven [if me or my partner slept with someone else], but I can’t give an honest answer as I haven’t really experienced that.”

8. Scarlett Johansson

“I think the idea of marriage is very romantic; it’s a beautiful idea, and the practice of it can be a very beautiful thing,” she said. “I don’t think it’s natural to be a monogamous person. I might be skewered for that, but I think it’s work. It’s a lot of work, and the fact that it is such work for so many people — for everyone — the fact of that proves that it is not a natural thing. … It’s something I have a lot of respect for and have participated in, but I think it definitely goes against some instinct to look beyond.”

9. T-Pain

“A lot of people were saying me and my wife were swingers and that we had like a Will-and-Jada kinda open marriage and I was just telling them that me and my wife just sleep with other girls together. It’s not like we can just go off and have relationships with other people. People were assuming we got married for nothing. Just because we smash every now and then doesn’t mean we have an open marriage.”

10. Alan Cumming

“We don’t have an open relationship. What I do believe is that monogamy is not a natural state, and it is not something we are conditioned to do as animals. So in my own life, I realized it’s not possible, and I don’t pretend I can do it. And also if you are kind and you are honest and you are faithful in a true way, then it is not the worst thing that could happen — that you have a little something on the side.”

11. Hugh Grant

“If you ask me the question, ‘Do I think human beings are meant to be in 40-year-long monogamous, faithful relationships?’ No, no,” Grant stated. “I always admire the French and the Italians who are very devoted to their marriages. They take them extremely seriously, but it is understood that there might be other visitors at 5 o’clock in the afternoon. You just never boast.”

12. Whoopi Goldberg

“Sometimes in a relationship, people can’t always get what they need, and if you have reputable people you can turn to in order to get what you need, I say go for it. It is a whole lot better than being frustrated and angry at the person you love,” wrote Goldberg.

13. Tom Ford

“I think that monogamy is artificial. I do not think it’s something that comes naturally to us … The relationship I’ve been in for 18 years — I don’t even want to get into this because he’s going to read this and I’m going to be in so much shit!”

14. Shailene Woodley

“I’m someone who has experienced both an open relationship and a deeply monogamous relationship in my life, and I think we’re in a day and age where there should be no rules except for the ones designed by two people in a partnership — or three people, whatever floats your boat!”

15. Shirley MacLaine

“I guess you would say ‘practiced an open marriage’ in 1954, which was another lifetime. No one understood it, we did. He lived in Japan basically, I lived in America working, and this and that. I think that’s the basis for a long-lasting marriage if you really want to do such a thing.”

What are your thoughts on non-monogamy after reading these celebrity open relationships quotes?