Jada Pinkett Smith Reveals She and Will Smith Have Lived ‘Completely Separate Lives’ for Years

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith at the 94th Annual Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, USA on March 27, 2022. — Photo by PopularImages/Deposit Photos

Jada Pinkett Smith has revealed the truth about her relationship with husband Will Smith.

In a preview clip aired Wednesday from her upcoming interview with Today anchor Hoda Kotb, Pinkett Smith said she and Will are no longer together romantically, as she discussed in her new memoir, Worthy, out Oct. 17.

The actress and talk show host confirmed to Kotb that she and Will, whom she married in 1997, have been living “completely separate lives” since 2016.

Related: Jada Pinkett Smith Felt ‘Overwhelming Hopelessness’ During Personal Struggles

In the video, Kotb referred to Pinkett Smith’s forthcoming book and said some of the details about the couple’s marriage “surprised her the most,” out of the “many surprising things” in the memoir.

The memoir includes an entire chapter dedicated to the infamous Oscars slap in 2022, when Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock after he made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.

In an excerpt of the memoir, shared via People, Pinkett Smith revealed she and Will were already separated when the incident took place.

“I [was] unclear on the reason why Will is so upset,” she wrote. “We had been living separate lives and were there as family, not as husband and wife.”

Pinkett Smith explained to Kotb that while the pair are still technically married, they are no longer romantic partners.

“It was not a divorce on paper,” Kotb said, to which Pinkett Smith responded, “Right.”

Kotb continued, “But it was a divorce.” Pinkett Smith agreed with the divorce reference.

The Red Table Talk alum added that while she has considered legally divorcing Smith, she has never been able to go through with it.

“I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through … whatever,” Pinkett Smith said. “I just haven’t been able to break that promise.”

Kotb went on to ask why the couple never revealed their decision to separate from one another to the public.

According to Pinkett Smith, it came down to “just not being ready yet,” she explained. “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.”

When Kotb pressed her for answers on what led to the relationship’s “fracture,” she admitted that it came down to “a lot of things.”

“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 said.

Pinkett Smith, 52 and Will Smith, 55, are parents to two children — Jaden, 25, and Willow, 22, and also helped raise Will’s son Trey, 30, from a previous marriage.

You can watch the clip from Jada’s upcoming interview with Hoda Kotb below. The full interview airs Friday, on Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.


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