Jada Pinkett Smith Reveals She 'Did Not Cheat' on Husband Will Smith

The actress told PEOPLE in last week's issue that she and her husband of 25 years have been separated since 2016

Amidst a week of revelations, Jada Pinkett Smith is setting the record straight on one specific part of her marriage.

The actress, 52, whose tell-all memoir, Worthy, is out Oct. 17, has been opening the lid on her personal life over the past several days as she’s shared that she and her husband of 25 years, Will Smith, had been separated since 2016 — prior to the infamous slap at the 2022 Oscars.

During a conversation with her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, on Saturday for TalkShopLive, Jada clarified that despite facing turbulence in her marriage, infidelity was never in the picture.

“I just need people to know, okay, I did not cheat on Will Smith,” she said, clearing the air on the hot-button topic that she and Will, 55, addressed during a tense episode of Red Table Talk in 2020.

Jada added that no infidelity was involved despite “how sad [Will] looked” during the episode, where they discussed her “brief entanglement” with August Alsina, which took place while she and her husband were temporarily separated.

Related: Jada Pinkett Smith Breaks Silence on Marriage, Oscar Slap and Her Path to 'Self-Acceptance' (Exclusive)

As for how she and the King Richard actor are doing now, Jada said she is “finally happy.”

“Different things have transpired over the last two years and Will and I have been doing a lot of healing together. And, you know, have made our way back to this interdependence, this beautiful loving space between us. And we're family. And we're figuring it out.”

She added, “Will and I are in a really beautiful place together.”

Related: Will Smith Shares First Instagram Post Since Wife Jada Opened Up About Marriage: 'Notifications Off'

Her denial of infidelity comes after she told PEOPLE for last week’s issue that neither she nor her husband have ever had an affair — nor do they have an open relationship, despite speculation.

“We eliminated the chance of betrayal,” she said. “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.' "

Jada continued, “I think where that got confusing is that as time went on, there were different stages in my marriage where Will and I decided we were not together. We didn't tell the public, where I was actually thinking about divorcing, separating. 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.' "

Related: Jada Pinkett Smith Says She and Will Smith Chose No Prenup Because 'Divorce Won't Be Necessary'

She shared that she was also aware that there was much speculation about infidelity on her part in particular, in the aftermath of the Red Table Talk episode, and that came to a head after Will slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars nearly two years ago.

“It was ridiculous in how far it went,” she said of the backlash she faced after the incident, which was spurred after Rock made a joke about her being in a future G.I. Jane film due to her short hair, prompting Will to take the stage and smack him across the face.

"But I also understood at the same time. Considering the false narrative that I had cheated on Will or I was like some adulteress, Will had never done that before," she said. "And I think that when we just look at human nature... when you look at the breadcrumbs, people need something to blame."

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Jada added of how some interpreted the incident as her fault. "People not knowing what was happening behind the scenes, I surely wasn't surprised that I got blamed, but I understood that that's just the human nature of it all."

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