Jada Pinkett Smith Delivers Surprising News About How She And Will Smith Have Been Separated Since 2016

Oct 12, 2023 by apost team

Jada Pinkett Smith and her famous family are no strangers to the spotlight and have shared plenty of ups and downs. Jada has been married to fellow actor Will Smith since 1997. The couple has two children: son Jaden Smith, born in 1998, and daughter Willow Smith, born in 2000. Jada is also a stepmother to Will’s son from an earlier marriage.

The pair have been very open about being in a non-traditional relationship. They have been non-monogamous for periods during their marriage, and in an episode of “Red Table Talk” from 2020, Jada revealed that she had an “entanglement” with R&B singer August Alsina at one point. The singer also revealed that he got her spouse's blessings. 

Will told GQ about the situation: 

“Jada never believed in a conventional marriage. Jada had family members that had an unconventional relationship. So she grew up in a way that was very different than how I grew up. There were significant endless discussions about, what is relational perfection? What is the perfect way to interact as a couple? And for the large part of our relationship, monogamy was what we chose, not thinking of monogamy as the only relational perfection.”

He continued: 

“We have given each other trust and freedom, with the belief that everybody has to find their own way. And marriage for us can’t be a prison.”

Will's words fueled the suspicions that the couple was in an open marriage. Speculations about their divorce also flew until Will debunked them and said he would announce it himself if he and Jada ever considered getting a divorce. However, Jada stunned everyone in October 2023 when she revealed in an interview with Hoda Kotb that she and Will actually separated in 2016. Keep reading for the details. 

Although it was clear that the Smiths had a troubled marriage from their various conversations and statements over the years, the two have stuck with each other. They have also been open about many of their challenges. 

In 2018, during an episode of “Red Table Talk” with Jada, her mom, and Willow, Will told Willow about a troubled time in their marriage when Jada cried for about 45 days straight every morning. Will kept a diary where he recorded those occurrences, but Jada interjected that Will had even missed a few days that weren’t recorded. 

This was possibly the worst in their marriage because he didn’t know what to do to help her. However, the couple didn’t give up and have continued to try to work things out. 

“We’re still figuring it out,” Jada told People in October 2023. “A lot has happened,” she added truthfully. "There’s a lot that’s transpired in the last two years, and so we’ve been doing some heavy-duty work together.”

The 52-year-old actress also denied that she and Will ever cheated on each other. 

“We eliminated the chance of betrayal,” she disclosed. “It’s like, ‘Let’s talk about it. Let’s work through it together. Let’s be in partnership. Let’s not keep each other in the dark.’“

The pair had a few years of quietness until an incident happened that turned the public's attention to their marriage once again. The “King Richard” actor infamously slapped comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards when the latter made fun of Jada’s shaved head. Jada had shaved her head because of her alopecia, and Will’s action renewed public attention. However, following a shocking revelation from Jada, Will’s actions have been perceived in a new light. 

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In an interview with Kotb published by Today on Oct. 11, 2023, Jada discussed an eye-raising detail included in her new memoir, “Worthy,” which was released on Oct. 17, 2023. According to “The Nutty Professor” actress, she and Will separated in 2016, although they are still legally married,

An amazed Kotb revealed that the disclosure was the one that “surprised her the most” from all Jada shared in the book. The media personality then asked what led to the romantic separation. 

“Why it fractured...that — that’s a lot of things,” Jada responded. “By the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.” 

She added that she and Will never divorced because she promised him they wouldn’t. “I just haven’t been able to break that promise,” Jada said. 

The mom of two stated that she and Will were more of life partners than they were married partners and talked about why they never made the news of their separation public. 

She mentioned that it came to them “just not being ready yet ... Still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership ... In regards to, how do we present that to people? We hadn’t figured that out.”

Meanwhile, Jada opined to People that their refusal to make it public led to speculations that she and Will had an open marriage. 

“We didn’t tell the public, where I was actually thinking about divorcing, separating,” she said. “There’ve been several of those where we’ve gone and lived our separate lives. So I think within that is where people might’ve thought that, ‘Oh, they must be having an open relationship.’”

What do you think of Jada Pinkett Smith’s disclosures? Let us know — and be sure to pass this on to fans of the couple.