Jada Pinkett Smith has shed light on her relationship status with Will Smith.
In a new NBC News interview with Hoda Kotb to discuss her memoir, Worthy, Pinkett Smith opened up about one of the biggest revelations in the book: She and Smith have been separated since 2016.
“It was not a divorce on paper, but it was a divorce,” Kotb said.
“Right,” Pinkett Smith affirmed.
Pinkett Smith explained that she and Smith hadn’t yet revealed the true nature of their relationship because they were “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.”
She continued, “Why it fractured … that—that’s 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.”
Pinkett Smith had previously considered getting legally divorced, she said, but,“I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through … whatever. I just haven’t been able to break that promise.”
![apple original films](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/will-smith-and-jada-pinkett-smith-attend-apple-original-news-photo-1697032478.jpg?resize=980:* "Apple Original Films' "Emancipation" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals")
The couple married in 1997 and have since welcomed two kids, 25-year-old son Jaden Smith and 22-year-old daughter Willow Smith. Smith additionally has 30-year-old son Trey from his first marriage to Sheree Zampino.
Pinkett Smith’s relationship has been embroiled in rumors since a 2020 episode of her podcast with Willow, Red Table Talk, in which she revealed she had a romantic relationship with singer August Alsina while she and Smith were “broken up.”
“Through that particular journey I learned so much about myself and was able to really confront a lot of emotional immaturity, emotional insecurity, and I was really able to do some really deep healing,” she said at the time.
As an associate editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, Chelsey keeps a finger on the pulse on all things celeb news. She also writes on social movements, connecting with activists leading the fight on workers' rights, climate justice, and more. Offline, she’s probably spending too much time on TikTok, rewatching Emma (the 2020 version, of course), or buying yet another corset.
