Jada Pinkett Smith Reveals She and Will Smith Have Been Separated Since 2016

Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have been separated for seven years. The actress and talk show host is set to open up about the state of her marriage to the Oscar-winning actor in her upcoming NBC News primetime special with Hoda Kotb, with Pinkett Smith revealing that she and Smith have lived "completely separate lives" since 2016.

Discussing her upcoming memoir Worthy, in a clip for the interview shared by Today, Kotb noted that among the many surprising things in the book is the reveal that "in 2016, you and Will decided that you were going to live completely separate lives." Pinkett Smith and Smith married in 1997, with the actress telling Kotb of their separation, "It was not a divorce on paper ... But it was a divorce." The pair remain legally married.

As for why she and Smith haven't publicly announced their separation, Pinkett Smith said, "I think just not being ready yet. Still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership, right, and in regards to how do we present that to people, you know? And we hadn't figured that out." She continued, "I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."

Although Pinkett Smith said she has considered legal divorce, she told Kotb she hasn't been able to go through with it, saying, "I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through ... whatever. just haven't been able to break that promise."

Further opening up about her relationship with Smith in an interview with PEOPLE, the Set It Off and Girls Trip star said they are "still figuring it out." According to Pinkett Smith, she and her estranged husband have "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."

Pinkett Smith and Smith tied the knot in 1997 and share two children together, Jaden and Willow. Smith is also dad to son Trey, whom he shares with ex-wife Sheree Zampino. The couple's decades-spanning relationship has made headlines on numerous occasions, with Pinkett Smith in 2018 explaining that she and Smith did not refer to themselves as "married" and instead preferred to "refer to ourselves as life partners, where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life." Meanwhile, back in 2020, R&B singer August Alsina claimed to have had a secret relationship with Pinkett Smith. The couple again made headlines in 2022 when Smith slapped Oscars host Chris Rock after he joked about Pinkett Smith's hair. Smith has not commented on their separation at this time.