Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Have Split Since 2016
Hollywood celebrity couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith made a surprise second time. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett have been separated since 2016.
In her latest interview with Today released on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, Jada Pinket Smith said she and Will have been separated for seven years. Both chose to keep this fact secret. "I think I'm still not ready, still trying to find a way out between the two of us how to have a partnership and how we convey that to people," Jada said. "Until now it hasn't figured it out."
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| Jada Pinkett Smith, left, and Will Smith arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, March 27, 2022, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) |
In the interview, which will air on NBC News' Prime-time Special with Hoda Kotb on Friday, October 13, 2023, Jada confirmed their marriage is cold after nearly 20 years. They married in 1997 and have three children.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's relationship began to strain in early 2016
The woman, who was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021, said many problems made her marriage to Will Smith fractured. "I think by the time we went into 2016, we were exhausted in trying. I think we were both caught up in fantasies about what we thought someone else should be."
At the time, Jada admitted she was considering divorce, but ultimately decided not to file a lawsuit. "I promise there will never be a reason for us to divorce," she said. "We will overcome anything, and I can't break that promise yet."
Also, read: Britney Spears and Sam Asghari have decided to go their separate ways.
Jada said they are still trying to figure out a solution to the issue. "We're still figuring it out," the 52-year-old said. "We've done some tough lifting together. We will find out what the answer is," he said.
Pinkett Smith details more about their relationship – how it started to live apart now in a memoir titled Worthy, which will be published on October 17, 2023. In a preview clip to promote her memoir, Hoda asks Pinkett Smith to detail their marriage, including her husband's slapping.
Jada said she did not expect Will Smith to slap Chris Rock on the Oscars stage on Sunday, March 27, 2022. "I thought, 'This is just a charade,'" he said. He originally thought that the scene was just a gimmick during the live television broadcast. "I was like, 'There's no way Will hit him,'" she said. "It wasn't until Will walked back to his seat that I realized that it wasn't a play."
The first words she said to Will when they were alone after the slap, "Are you okay?"
After the slap, Will Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and was banned from the show for 10 years. He also apologized to Chris and called the slap "unacceptable." Will Smith also said his action, which was driven by feelings of annoyance because Chris Rock joked about his wife's shaved head because he suffered from alopecia, was not the right way to behave that badly. Will himself at that time won the Oscar for Best Actor in the film King Richard.