Why Jada Pinkett Smith Decided Not to Reveal Will Smith Separation Despite “Entanglement” Backlash – E! Online

Jada first provided an update on her and Will’s relationship status on Oct. 11, explaining that the pair had been separated for years—including the 2022 Oscars ceremony in which the King Richard actor slapped Chris Rock for a joke the comedian made about Jada while hosting the ceremony.

“Why it fractured… that’s a lot of things,” she recalled to Today’s Hoda Kotb. “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.”

But despite being separated for so many years, in what Jada referred to as a divorce though “not on paper,” she told the NBC anchor the pair still aren’t ready to make the split legally binding. 

“I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce,” she added. “We will work through whatever, and I just haven’t been able to break that promise.”

To relive Jada and Will’s over 25 years together, keep reading.