Jada Pinkett Smith Says She & Will Smith Have Been Separated Since 2016

BYAron A.Published on October 11, 202310.5K Views

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith attend the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 27, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Lionel Hahn/Getty Images)

Jada Pinkett says she & will live "completely separate lives."

Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith were reportedly separated years before the infamous Oscars incident went down. Ahead of the release of her forthcoming memoir, Worthy, she sat down for a tell-all interview with PEOPLE where she dived into everything including her marriage to Will and the controversial award show moment. Apparently, the two are not “romantically together,” though they aren’t formally divorced on paper.

“We’re still figuring it out,” she told PEOPLE. “We’ve been doing some really heavy-duty work together. We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us.” As far as the Oscars moment, she said that she thought it was a skit. Still, she said that she’s going to continue to stand by Will Smith no matter what. “I’m going to be by his side,” she said of him. “But also allow him to have to figure this out for himself.”

Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Separate

In a clip from her upcoming NBC Primetime special with Hoda Kotb, she revealed that she and Will live “completely separate lives” and have been since 2016. Hoda said that she was surprised by the revelation from the book where Jada goes into detail surrounding her relationship with Will. Jada confirmed that they aren’t together romantically, although Kotb clarified that “it was not a divorce on paper.” However, Jada emphasized that she considered it a “divorce.”

“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 told Kotb on why she thinks their relationship was “fractured.” “I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through ... whatever,” Pinkett Smith continued. “I just haven’t been able to break that promise.” Check out the clip above and sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.

About The Author

Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.