Will Smith and Jada Pinkett have been separated since 2016

The actress opened up about Will Smith's slap at the Oscars and confessed that she thought it was a "parody"

| 11/10/2023 - 10:34am (GMT-5)

For decades Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith They formed one of the most beloved and acclaimed couples in Hollywood. A love and affection that was tarnished by the slap that the actor gave Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. A moment that marked a before and after for the marriage, which turns out to have been separated for more than seven years.

It was the actress who revealed the surprising news following the upcoming publication of her memoirs (Worthy) and she has confirmed it in several interviews she has given, in which she also spoke about her husband's attack on Chris Rock, a moment that is now the history of television and cinema.

According to Jada Pinkett-Smith, she and Will Smith have been living "completely separate lives" since 2016 despite the fact that we have seen them share red carpets together. The reason they hadn't made their separation public yet is because they weren't ready and were finding a way to make their relationship work.

"We have been doing very hard work together. We simply love each other deeply and we are going to discover what that is like for us," added the interpreter, who clarified that they are not legally separated. "I promised there would never be a reason for us to get divorced. We'll work on anything. And I just haven't been able to break that promise... We live apart," she said of her decision to remain tied in marriage despite living lives apart.

The actors married in 1997 and the result of their marriage is their two children, Jaden and Willow.

Despite not being divorced, Jada stated that they have been separated for seven years and about the reason for their breakup she said: "I think when we got to 2016, we were exhausted from trying. I think we were both still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought would happen. It should be the other person."

During the 2022 Oscars gala, Will Smith went on stage and slapped Chris Rock after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett's bald head, who suffers from alopecia. Regarding this moment, she confesses that she herself thought it was a scripted action and it was not until she saw him return to his seat that she realized that it was not a premeditated act. He also remembered that the first thing he asked her when they were alone was if she was okay.