(CNN) — Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are not calling it quits this summer.
That’s the first thing you need to know. The actors, who have been married for 17 years, were the subject of breakup rumors on Monday after a RadarOnline report claimed the pair had quietly worked out a $240 million deal to “split at the end of the summer.”
The site Gossip Cop was quickly on the case, saying it just wasn’t true.
Of course, that didn’t stop the chatter, which seemed to grow as the day went on. It’s not the first time such a story about one of Hollywood’s highest-profile couples has surfaced, and here are a few reasons why we need it to stop:
Will Smith has better things to do than respond to your worries.
Smith hasn’t had the greatest luck at the box office in the past few years (we still aren’t over 2008’s “Seven Pounds”), and we need him to focus on getting back on track. He’s super-talented, and fans are looking forward to his upcoming projects, including “Suicide Squad” and “Bad Boys 3.”
Having to jump on his Facebook page like he did Monday to say “I promise you all – if I ever decide to divorce my Queen – I SWEAR I’ll tell you myself!” is just a distraction.
There are children involved!
The couple are parents to teens Jaden and Willow (as well as Will’s son, Trey, from an earlier marriage), so let’s be sensitive to what these breakup rumors do to them.
Actually, we know what they do, as we could hear Willow laughing all the way from Twitter when she let it be known how ridiculous she thought the whole story had become.
Jada Pinkett Smith is doing important work.
We’d much rather talk about the actress’ efforts to end human trafficking within the United States. This summer, she partnered with CNN to expose the billion-dollar industry of child sex trafficking as part of the CNN Freedom Project.
There are other celebrity couples who are actually breaking up.
While folks were scouring the internet for details on a Smith breakup, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale as well as Reba McEntire and Narvel Blackstock were actually splitting.
Don’t let yourself be distracted.