Jada Pinkett Smith clarifies relationship with August Alsina: 'I did not cheat on Will Smith'

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Ahead of her memoir release, Jada Pinkett Smith is answering burning questions about her marriage to Will Smith — including queries about whether or not she cheated on him.

Over the weekend, Pinkett Smith sat down for a conversation with her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, on TalkShopLive, during which she addressed the topic head on.

"I just need people to know, okay, I did not cheat on Will Smith, no matter how sad he looked at that table," Pinkett Smith said, referring to the infamous Red Table Talk where she confessed to an "entanglement" with R&B singer August Alsina. "When you read this book, you will kind of get an understanding of why the Red Table even happened in the first place."

Since the episode where Pinkett Smith admitted to the relationship, she has clarified that she and Smith were separated at the time. Regarding their current status, she tells her mother that the couple have "come to a really, really beautiful place together."

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith attend the 94th Annual Academy Awards
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith attend the 94th Annual Academy Awards

Kevin Mazur/WireImage Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith

In an interview with Today's Hoda Kotb on Oct. 11, the Matrix and Girls Trip actress explained she and her husband separated in 2016 and have spent the past seven years living separately. She added that they continued presenting as a unified couple while "still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership." She also confirmed that the couple have no plans to officially end their marriage.

In a follow-up interview with Kotb on Monday's Today, Pinkett Smith said that the two are currently working towards reconciliation.

"There's no finding another great love, and I think that's the point," she said. "It's like we are in a place now that we are in a deep, healing space. And we are really concentrating on healing the relationship between us."

"There's no divorce on paper," she continued. "We really have been working hard. That's the whole thing. We are working very hard at bringing our relationship together. Back to a life partnership."

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith

Kevin Mazur/VF22/WireImage Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith at the 2022 Oscars

Smith responded to his wife's revelations in an email to The New York Times, for a profile on Pinkett Smith, where he wrote that her memoir "kind of woke him up."

"When you've been with someone for more than half of your life, a sort of emotional blindness sets in," the Academy Award winner told the outlet. "And you can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties."

He later addressed a weekend of headlines with a joking Instagram reel. The video post sees Smith sleeping on a boat, ignoring a flurry of notification sounds and ringtones. "Fun fact about me: I can take a nap almost anywhere," a voiceover narrates, before cutting to an awakened Smith, shaking his head at the camera.

"Notifications off :)" he captioned the post.

Pinkett Smith will release her new memoir, Worthy, on Oct. 17.

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