Jada Pinkett Smith reveals why she ‘divorced’ Will Smith 7 years ago and explains reason for keeping split a secret | The Sun

10/11/2023

JADA Pinkett-Smith has revealed that she and Will Smith have been separated for years.

The actress sat down with Today for an interview about her memoir, Worthy.

Hoda Kotb led the interview and said that the aspect of the book that shocked her the most, and one that she had to re-read, was that Jada and Will, 55, decided to "live completely separate lives" in 2016.

"It was not a divorce on paper, but it was a divorce," she said.

Jada nodded her head and confirmed that it was true.

"So since 2016, which is seven years now, y'all have been apart?" Hoda, 59, asked.

"Yeah," Jada, 52, nodded her head.

Will and Jada married in Baltimore, Maryland, on New Years Eve 1997 and share two kids together, Willow, 22, and Jaden, 25.

He has a son named Trey, 30, with his ex-wife, Sheree Zampino.

Jada shared that they weren't ready to share the news publicly and were figuring out "how to be in a partnership" and that's why she kept it private all these years.

NOT ON PAPER

Although the actors are split physically, they are not legally divorced.

Jada considered a legal divorce, but never went through with it.

"I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce," she told Hoda.

"We will work through whatever."

Jada went on: "We just haven't been able to break that promise."

However, Hoda asked the Red Table Talk host if they still live together, and Jada said they "live separately."

Hoda revealed to her Today co-hosts that they have not called each other "husband and wife" in years.

"Except in every public appearance," Savannah Guthrie said.

'STILL FIGURING IT OUT'

In an interview with People about the state of their marriage, Jada said: “We’re still figuring it out. 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.”

How her children have been during the split, Jada shared with People: "My children, they’re little gurus. They’ve taught me a deep sense of self-acceptance.”

"They love every part of me."

She ended: "The level of love, unconditional love that they have for me and their dad. And it's one thing to want to be the person that gives that unconditional love. And then there's, to be the recipient of that.”

HER STORY

The full interview with Hoda and Jada will air on Friday, October 13, at 8/7c on NBC.

The one-hour special takes place in Jada's hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.

Worthy will be available in hardcover on October 17.

Hoda said that the actress really opened up about a lot of topics and her and Will's separation was only one of them.

Per publisher Dey Sreet Books, Worthy chronicles the “rollercoaster ride from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of personal rediscovery and the celebration of authentic feminine power."

The book also touches on Jada's relationship with the late rapper Tupac Shakur, whom she met in high school.

Jada Pinkett Smith reveals why she ‘divorced’ Will Smith 7 years ago and explains reason for keeping split a secret | The Sun

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'STILL FIGURING IT OUT'

HER STORY

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