Jada Pinkett Smith is unveiling shocking details about her relationship with Will Smith this week. As seen in a preview clip for an upcoming NBC News prime-time special with Hoda Kotb, the Red Table Talk host disclosed to Kotb that she has not previously shared the full extent of her marriage with the King Richard star. Pinkett Smith acknowledged that they have been separated since 2016, leading “separate lives” after almost 20 years of marriage that began in 1997.
The special is scheduled to be broadcasted on NBC at 8 p.m. ET/PT on October 13th. The preview snippets have stirred up a flurry of emotions amongst the celebrity couple’s fans on social media. As seen in the viral video, Kotb asks Pinkett Smith about her upcoming memoir, Worthy (out October 17th). The Magic Mike XXL star then noted that this revelation about her marriage “surprised her the most” out of the book’s “many surprising things.”
Jada Pinkett Smith And Will Smith Are Legally Married But Not Romantically Involved, She Reveals
Kotb says: "It was not a divorce on paper," to which Pinkett Smith replies: "Right." Kotb then clarifies: "but it was a divorce." Pinkett Smith responds: "Divorce." When Kotb asked the Scream 2 alum why she and the Aladdin actor had not previously shared this with fans before, Pinkett Smith said that the two were "just not ready yet" and are "still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership." She added: "in regards to, how do we present that to people? We hadn't figured that out."
The journalist then asked Pinkett Smith about the reasons behind the marriage's "fracture" and she noted: "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 confessed that although she has contemplated obtaining a legal divorce, she never followed through with the process. "I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through ... whatever," she said. The mom of two added: "I just haven’t been able to break that promise."
Smith and Pinkett Smith have maintained a longstanding partnership that has generated attention-grabbing headlines, including Pinkett Smith's involvement in a relationship with singer August Alsina, which resulted in a joint Red Table Talk interview in 2020.
Additionally, Smith's protective nature towards his wife was on full display when he physically (and controversially) confronted Oscars host Chris Rock in 2022 for making insensitive jokes about Pinkett Smith's hair amidst her alopecia battle.
In his memoir, published in 2021, Smith gave some more insight into their marriage. During the infamous Red Table Talk interview, the duo addressed the state of their relationship, including Pinkett Smith's "entanglement" with Alsina.
They also revealed that their marriage had gone through a tumultuous period prior to Pinkett Smith's involvement with Alsina.
Smith joked in the episode: "I was done with your ass." Pinkett Smith shot back: "Yeah, you kicked me to the curb. We broke up."
Until this clip of Kotb and Pinkett Smith's interview emerged, fans were unaware that there was never a true reunion or reconciliation between Pinkett Smith and Smith.
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Smith and Pinkett Smith are parents to Jaden Smith, 24, and Willow Smith, 21. In addition, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum has a son named Trey, 29, from his previous marriage to ex-wife Sheree Zampino.
According to the publisher Dey Street Books, Pinkett Smith's memoir will cover the "rollercoaster ride from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of personal rediscovery and the celebration of authentic feminine power," as well as her relationship with the late rapper Tupac Shakur in the 90s.
