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Who is Adam Smith? Billy Porter's entrepreneur ex husband helped him 'heal' from past trauma before split

Billy Porter said, 'It's really, really hard in a marriage, you know, when you're trying to figure out how to be intimate with somebody'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Billy Porter and Adam Porter-Smith have ended their six years of marriage, as confirmed by the Pose actor's rep, Simon Halls, PEOPLE reports. The celeb couple first connected in 2009 over dinner. but, they broke up after seven months of dating, and it took another five years for them to find love again.

Porter and Porter-Smith married in January 2017, only 16 days after getting engaged, and celebrated multiple achievements. The pair claimed that they chose to quickly get engaged because they wanted to wed before Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. Smith is well-known not only as Porter's partner but also as a skilled entrepreneur. The '80 Brady' star had been through tragedy in the past and explained how his business hubby helped him 'heal' before their mutual split.

Who is Adam Smith?

Porter-Smith earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts in 2003. Prior to co-owning the eyewear business Native Ken from 2016 to 2018, he first worked in sales for a number of businesses, including Chanel and Jil Sander Eyewear, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The entrepreneur husband is currently the creative director of The Smith Society, a firm that sells "swimwear for social settings," according to its Instagram bio. Porter posted many photographs from the brand's inaugural event on Instagram in August 2022, stating, "About this weekend! Congrats @thesmithsociety on a successful launch event!! So proud of you! Much more to come! #JustGettingStarted🎉🎉🎉."

Porter-Smith talked about the COVID-19 pandemic as the source of his inspiration for the swimsuit design in an interview with Women's Wear Daily. He told the site, "I've always been inspired by 1920s, '30s and '40s swimwear. He added, "My design aesthetic was emboldened as I watched gay culture and beyond embrace silhouettes and new ideas around what we wear and the tone it sets in a new and more open world of fashion."

Smith helped Porter heal from past trauma

Porter and Smith are well recognized for their close relationship because they frequently appear together at red-carpet events. The entrepreneur and the actor often celebrate each other's milestones and never missed a chance to reunite. In fact, after reuniting in 2017, they wasted no time in getting married shortly after being engaged. The duo wanted to come together prior to Donald Trump's inauguration as president. "We were discussing, and Billy had actually brought up to me that it's important for us to get married while [Barack] Obama is still President and before January 20," Porter-Smith said to PEOPLE. "So we sat down and figured out when we could make it work before the 20th."

'We're growing together and healing together' 

Also, Porter and Smith supported one another through their difficult times before their mutual split. The 'Unprotected' author discussed past trauma in an interview with PEOPLE in October 2021. "At 52 years old, I am getting to the deepest parts of my truth," he admitted. "I'm having a rebirth — on my own terms." The actor also talked about how his entrepreneur husband assisted him in overcoming his issues with intimacy. "My sex life in relation to intimacy, it's not — it's not good at all," he said to the outlet. "It's really, really hard in a marriage, you know, when you're trying to figure out how to be intimate with somebody. But we're growing together and healing together. It's a lot of hard work. Let me say, it's worth it."

Many people were taken aback by their sad choice to call it quits on their marriage, but Billy's agent claimed in a statement that the couple "continues to love and support each other as they embark on this next chapter."