Jada Pinkett: Will Smith and I separated in 2016

 Jada Pinkett and Will Smith

Jada Pinkett has revealed she parted ways with Will Smith in 2016.

In a snippet of her interview with Hoda Kotb that will later air on NBC News, Jada, 52, said she has found it difficult to file for divorce because she had made a promise not to.

“I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through whatever. And I just haven’t been able to break that promise,” she said but stressed that they live separately.

She has also highlighted the same in her memoir ‘Worthy’ where she has gone into the details of why their marriage could no longer work.

Asked why they did not go public with their separation, Jada said they were not ready and still had to figure out a few things.

“I think just not being ready yet…still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership and in regards to how we present that to people.

“We hadn’t figured that out,” she said.

When Kotb asked about the reasons behind their separation, Jada said there were a lot of things but by 2016 they were ‘exhausted with trying’ and were still stuck in a fantasy of what they thought the other person should be.

During the 2022 Oscars, Will Smith (Best Actor winner), smacked Chris Rock in the face after the comedian made a comment about Jada’s hairstyle.

 Will Smith (R) hits Chris Rock as Rock spoke on stage during the 94th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. March 27, 2022. [Reuters, Brian Snyder]

It was unclear whether Rock was aware Jada had alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.

Smith later apologised to Rock, admitting his behaviour was unacceptable.

"Over the last few months, I've been doing a lot of thinking and personal work. I was fogged up by that point. It's all fuzzy. I have reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he is not ready to talk and when he is he will reach out.

"So I will say to you Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk," he said at the time.

Opining on the matter, Jada, in an interview with People magazine on Wednesday, said she thought the incident was a skit and only figured it wasn’t when a fuming Smith walked back to his seat.

 “I thought, ‘This is a skit’. I was like, ‘There’s no way that Will hit him.

“It wasn’t until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realised it wasn’t a skit,” she said.

Jada added that they are still figuring out a few things about the state of their marriage saying: “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.”

In July 2020, singer August Alsina disclosed that he had engaged in a romantic relationship with Jada, a fact she later affirmed during an episode of "Red Table Talk" with her husband.

"At that time, I became involved with August," Jada acknowledged, clarifying that this happened during a challenging period in their relationship when the superstar couple was facing difficulties.

Jada and Smith got married in December 1997 and have two children; Jaden Smith and Willow Smith.