Jada Pinkett Smith Explains Comments About Being Separated from Will Smith Since 2016

Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith stunned many fans when she shared the revelation that she and her husband Will Smith, whom she's been married to since 1997, have been living separate lives for the past seven years.

Her upcoming memoir Worthy, which comes out on Oct. 17, explores Pinkett Smith's struggles with her husband and throughout other areas of her life, including the infamous Oscars slap. However, ahead of the book release, the 52-year-old opened up about the shocking news with Today's Hoda Kotb in a new interview.

The full interview between Pinkett Smith and Kotb will air on NBC on Friday, Oct. 13, but a preview clip showed the former noting that she and Smith have been living "completely separate lives" since 2016 while publicly keeping up appearances of a committed married couple.

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After Kotb told Pinkett Smith that this was the detail that "surprised her the most" in the memoir, she clarified, "It was not a divorce on paper, but it was a divorce," which the actress confirmed.

Pinkett Smith said of what led to the separation: "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."

She also shared why they still haven't gotten a legal divorce and don't plan to right now, telling Kotb, "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."

Another key question Kotb had for Pinkett Smith was why it took so long for the couple to reveal the news as they've been "apart" for several years. Pinkett Smith explained their simple reasoning behind the decision, telling the Today host that 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."

Smith and Pinkett Smith's marriage has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, with many wondering about the actress and her relationship with singer August Alsina. During a Red Table Talk interview with the family in 2020, the couple made no comment about a real separation, although they admitted that they were “going through a very difficult time" before Pinkett Smith's "entanglement" with Alsina.

Since the latest revelation, Smith has not shared any public comment about it. The couple remains legally married and share two children, Jaden, 24, and Willow, 21.

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