Askies? Jada Pinkett Smith reveals she and Will Smith have been separated for 7 years

The 52-year-old actress admitted she thought Smith smacking Rock in response to a joke about her alopecia was all part of a ‘skit’. Picture: Reuters

The 52-year-old actress admitted she thought Smith smacking Rock in response to a joke about her alopecia was all part of a ‘skit’. Picture: Reuters

Published Oct 11, 2023

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Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have been separated for seven years and are "figuring out" their future.

The 'Girls Trip' actress hit the headlines in 2020 over her "entanglement" with August Alsina, but she's now admitted she and the 'King Richard' actor had been leading separate lives for six years before he sprung to her defence and hit Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.

She told People magazine of the current state of their marriage: "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...

“I’m going to be by his side. but also allow him to have to figure this out for himself.”

The 52-year-old actress admitted she thought Smith smacking Rock in response to a joke about her alopecia was all part of a "skit".

She recalled: "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.”

And in her new book, 'Worthy', Pinkett Smith - who has Jaden 25, and Willow, 22, with Smith - told of her shock when the 'Pursuit of Happyness' star referred to her as his "wife" at the ceremony.

In an extract obtained by People, she wrote: "It’s not until Will yells from his seat back up at Chris to 'keep my wife’s name out your f*****’ mouth', and then repeats it, that I perceive the gravity of the situation, and that, no, it had not been a skit.

"Even so, I am unclear on the reason why Will is so upset. We had been living separate lives and were there as family, not as husband and wife.

“But when I hear Will yell 'wife' in the chaos of the moment, an internal shift of 'Oh s*** . . . I am his wife!' happens instantly."