What did Jada Pinkett Smith Reveal About her Marriage? Actress Discloses a Six-Year Separation from her Husband Will Smith

In a clip for her upcoming NBC News primetime special with Hoda Kotd, actress Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that she and her husband Will Smith have been living "separate lives" since 2016. The exclusive NBC interview aired on October 13, 2023.

Pinkett Smith attended the special as a promotional activity for her memoir, Worthy. She went on to tell Kotb about her marriage with Will and that by 2016, the couple were exhausted from trying.

She said,

"I think we were both kind of still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."

Pinkett Smith mentioned that the couple had chosen not to go public with the separation since they were not "ready yet." Jada told Kotb,

"We were still trying to figure out the between the two of us, how to be in partnership. How do we present that to people? We hadn't figured that out yet."

Their marriage faced many difficulties. In July 2020, singer August Alsina talked about being romantically involved with the Girls Trip actor. Later in 2020, Pinkett Smith addressed the rumors during an episode with her husband Will on Red Table Talk.

She said,

"I got into an entanglement with August. We were going through a very difficult time."

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Jada Pinkett Smith on the Oscars slap

After Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith being bald, a video of Will Smith hitting Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars went viral. Now, Pinkett Smith also clarified that the couple had split up before the slap happened.

After the revelation of their separation in 2016, this is how one X user reacted:

Pinkett Smith was shocked by Will's actions and couldn't believe it was real. The slap was moments before he won the "Best Actor" in the film King Richard. In an interview with People Magazine, she stated,

"I thought this is a skit, I was like, there's no way that Will hit him. It wasn't until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realized it wasn't a skit."

During the acceptance speech, Smith said,

"Love makes you do crazy things."

However, he failed to apologize to Chris for the slap. Pinkett also said that as soon as the couple were alone, she asked Smith, "Are you okay?"

Pinkett Smith also talked about her memoir, Worthy, where she talks about her marriage, career, and early life. The memoir is scheduled to be released on October 17.

Commenting on the separation, Jada said,

"My Children, they're little gurus. They've taught me a deep sense of self-acceptance."

In her memoir, Jada also mentions that the 2022 Oscars was the second time Chris Rock had made fun of her, the first time being in 2016. During the Academy Awards in 2016, Chris Rock while delivering his monologue joked about Jada boycotting the ceremony because of a lack of diversity.

Pinkett Smith 52, and Smith 55, have been married since 1997 and first met during the audition for Smith's hit show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1994.

However, they only began dating after Will Smith had finalized his divorce from his first wife, Sheree Fletcher Zampino. After dating for two years, the couple tied the knot on New Year's Eve at Cloisters Castle in a private wedding. They also share two kids, Jaden 25, and Willow 22.