Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith Have Been Separated Since 2016: Not a ‘Divorce on Paper’

Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that she and her husband, Will Smith, have been separated since 2016.

While appearing on the Wednesday, October 11, episode of Today, Jada, 52, told Hoda Kotb that she and Will, 55, have been separated for seven years. She explained that they don’t have “a divorce on paper,” though they were “just exhausted with trying” by 2016.

“I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be,” the Girls Trip actress continued.

Jada then explained that she and Will waited so long to reveal their relationship status because they weren’t “ready yet” and noted 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?” she continued. “We hadn’t figured that out.”

As their problems continued, Jada and Will “made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce” and they would “work through” their issues. “I just haven’t been able to break that promise,” she added.

The couple tied the knot in 1997. They share children  Jaden, 25, and Willow, 22, while Will shares son Trey, 30, with his ex-wife, Sheree Zampino.

Jada further opened up about their relationship in her upcoming memoir, Worthy, where she recalled Will slapping Chris Rock in the face during the Academy Awards in 2022 after he made a joke about her shaved head.

“We had been living separate lives and were there as family, not as husband and wife,” Jada wrote. “But when I hear Will yell ‘wife’ in the chaos of the moment, an internal shift of Oh s–t … I am his wife! happens instantly.”

The Set It Off actress revealed the status of her and Will’s relationship three years after August Alsina claimed they had an affair.

Jaden reportedly introduced Jada and August, 31, in 2015, while he said they became close and he even joined the family on a Hawaii vacation the following year. August continued to have a close relationship with Jada and he even attended the 2017 BET Awards with her.

“I sat down with Will and had a conversation due to the transformation from their marriage to life partnership … he gave me his blessing,” August told The Breakfast Club’s Angela Yee ​in June 2020. “I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really deeply love and have a ton of love for her.”

The “No Love” singer continued, “I devoted myself to it, I gave my full self to it, so much so to the point that I can die right now and be okay with knowing that I truly gave myself to somebody.”

While Jada’s rep initially told Page Six that the claims were “absolutely not true,” she later confirmed that she was involved with August during a July 2020 episode of Red Table Talk. However, she denied that Will gave August his blessing and claimed the two were separated at the time of the affair.