Here's How Kevin Smith And His Wife Actually Met
Kevin Smith is the successful filmmaker behind movies like 1994's Clerks and 1995's Mallrats, who's also the creator of iconic characters like Jay and Silent Bob. But when he's not busy telling stories in Hollywood, he's likely at home with his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach, who he's been married to for more than 20 years.
On April 25, 2020, Smith shared a message on Instagram regarding their relationship, writing, "HAPPY 21st ANNIVERSARY to that girl I married way back in the 90's, @jenschwalbach! She wed me barefoot and 8 months pregnant, as if we were characters in a movie about a shotgun wedding. We barely knew each other so you could forgive folks back then for thinking 'This will never last...'"
He continued by noting that "while there were times" they both "were inclined to agree with [the] Doubting Thomases," he pointed out that they were "2 decades-plus into a hasty bet we wagered in our late 20's."
While the circumstances around their wedding may have had some people wondering if Smith and Schwalbach were truly meant to be, the same could be said for what happened when they first met. Even Smith admitted that it wasn't "the sweetest meet-cute story" — in fact, there was one aspect that was undeniably strange.
Kevin Smith thought his wife was a 'hotel bar hooker' sent by Chris Rock
On Feb. 20, 2018, Kevin Smith took to Instagram to mark the 20th anniversary of the day that he first laid eyes on the woman who would become his wife: Jennifer Schwalbach. Revealing that he had been in Los Angeles at the time, he met up with Chris Rock who "was also in town shooting a Lethal Weapon flick" and was set to appear in Smith's movie, Dogma.
Following an informal rehearsal, Smith told Rock that he was scheduled to do an interview with a writer from USA Today and admitted that he felt "weird" that it was supposed to take place in his hotel room. In response, Rock joked, "Better here than the bar downstairs. It's filled with hookers!"
That's when the story starts to get cringey, because Smith explained, "Ten minutes after Rock left, there was a knock on my door. When I answered it, a stunning young woman roughly my age was standing there. And because up to that point, anyone I'd ever been interviewed by at USA Today had been in their late 40's, the first thought that ran through my head when I saw the face of my future wife was 'Oh no! Chris Rock sent a hotel bar hooker to my room!'"
While it might not have been love at first sight, at least Smith and Schwalbach have a funny story when it comes to how they met.