How did Jada meet August Alsina? Age difference explored as rapper shares cryptic 'choose peace' post amid Will Smith x Chris Rock fiasco

Rapper August Alsina, who reportedly had an “entanglement” with Jada Pinkett Smith, shared a cryptic post about choosing peace in light of Will Smith and Chris Rock’s slapping incident at the 2022 Oscars.

The musician took to Instagram to post a photo of himself with a lengthy caption consisting of abstract thoughts on peace and human nature. The post reads:

“Choose peace; trusting that life’s intricate puzzle pieces are all forming together for the greater good and mastering of the seasonally sometime chaotic nature of your life’s art piece that’s being formed and painted by birthing life to your internal masterpiece; grown through external chaos-metamorphosing alchemy, dark turned 2 light and beauty within.”

Although the singer did not directly name or refer to Smith and Rock in his post, the message of choosing peace perfectly fits the ongoing discussions about violence in the wake of Will Smith and Chris Rock’s Oscars controversy.

August Alsina has been associated with the Smith family ever since he first met Pinkett Smith at the Wireless Festival in London in 2015. The duo eventually grew closer, and later defined the nature of their equation as “entanglement.”

---

A look into August Alsina and Jada Pinkett Smith’s age difference

Jada Pinkett Smith and August Alsina have more than 20 years of age gap (Image via Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

In 2015, Jada Pinkett Smith attended the Wireless Festival in London to support her children Jaden and Willow Smith, who were both scheduled to perform at the show. She later met rapper August Alsina at the same event.

At the time of their meeting, Pinkett Smith was reportedly 43 years old while August Alsina was just 22. Nearly two years after their first meeting, the duo attended the BET Awards together on June 25, 2017.

The following year, Alsina appeared on the Red Table Talk as Pinkett Smith’s “dear family friend” to discuss his alcohol and drug addiction, among other things. In 2019, the former dropped a music video for his remix of Kehlani’s song Nunya.

In the video, the Animoji version of the rapper can be seen texting someone named “Koren” shortly before using a GIF of Pinkett Smith in the clip. Interestingly, Koren is also Jada Pinkett Smith’s middle name. Despite the coincidences, Alsina denied rumors of the video being about Pinkett Smith.

However, in 2020 August Alsina appeared on The Breakfast Club to promote his album, The Product III: stateofEMERGEency and told Angela Yee that he “gave years of his life” to Pinkett Smith. The claims were immediately denied by the latter’s representatives, stating they were “absolutely not true.”

Meanwhile, Alsina also spoke to People about his revelation and said that he decided to open up about the situation as his personal life started affecting his work relationships:

“I never really cared about what people thought of me, but my personal life started to seep into my business life. There were certain falsities about me, and it affected my business relationships.”

The musician also mentioned that he decided to tell the truth as he is an honest man who was also the primary caregiver of three children. Alsina became the legal guardian of his nieces Chaylin, Amaiya, and Kayden after they lost both of their parents.

“I could understand why it would look like I'm reckless or disrespectful so it really started to affect my livelihood, and I'm never okay with that. I got three kids to look after. Kill me, hate me, stone me, but bury me an honest man. All I can do is tell the truth.”

The very same year, Pinkett Smith appeared on Red Table Talk and admitted to developing an “entanglement” with August Alsina while she was on a break with her husband Will Smith.

The actress said that she initially wanted to help the singer overcome his addiction to painkillers, but developed a close friendship with him in the process:

“Four and a half years ago... I started a friendship with August. We actually became really, really good friends. It all started with him just needing some help, me wanting to help his health, his mental state.”

She further admitted that their friendship eventually turned into a relationship of “entanglement”:

“From there as time went on, I got into a different kind of entanglement with August. It was a relationship, absolutely.”

Pinkett Smith and Alsina’s unique relationship has come under a lot of scrutiny, especially with regards to their 21-year age gap. However, the pair had already ended their entanglement by the time it was revealed to the public.

Despite their history, August Alsina told People that he has a “deep respect” for the Smiths and never intended to “cause trouble” for the family. However, he also clarified that he does not regret sharing the truth with the world.