EDGE Rewind: Watch: Justice Smith and Nic Ashe Celebrate Their Love in Calvin Klein Spot

by Kilian Melloy

EDGE Staff Reporter

Tuesday January 10, 2023
Originally published on May 23, 2022

Out actors Justice Smith and Nic Ashe in a #MyCalvins spot
Out actors Justice Smith and Nic Ashe in a #MyCalvins spot  (Source:Screencap/Calvin Klein/YouTube)

EDGE is reaching into its archive and sharing some of our favorite stories from the past

Out actors Justice Smith ("Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom") and Nic Ashe ("Queen Sugar") talk about splitting up, reuniting, and being in love in a new Calvin Klein spot that's part of the company's new Pride season additions to the long-running #MyCalvins campaign, That Grape Juice reported.

The 56-second spot features the two discussing how they had broken up "for, like, five months" and "didn't know if we were going to get back together," but "then it was kismet" — and they were reunited more happily than before.

The secret? "We really began to invest in our friendship," and "came back together a happier, healthier version of ourselves — and then we got to share that with the other person."

As the voiceover continues, the video montage shows the couple lying in bed together, cuddling, talking — and sporting Calvin Klein clothing, including bright blue briefs emblazoned with the slogan, "This is Love."

That Grape Juice recalled that "the pair came out as queer and confirmed their relationship in June 2020."

The #MyCalvins campaign started in 2014, Highsnobiety recalled, and has become a "huge global campaign" in the years since then.

"Creatives used the hashtag to not only show off their Calvins but also to showcase their own work and use the campaign as a stepping stone to enter a new realm," the site detailed.

Celebs participating and using the hashtag have included everyone from "Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner, to Shawn Mendes and A$AP Rocky," the site added. "But the real crux of it, which has carried this campaign to the height it's at now, is that Calvin Klein garments are in fact for everyone."

As is love.

Watch the heartwarming spot below.


Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.