Are Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith divorced for real?
Longtime fans of the celebrity pair have expressed confusion over their complex relationship. Things have intensified since the couple have been out of the spotlight for over a year.
Yes, Will Smith and his family are Hollywood royalty. But are he and Jada still family?
What is the actual status of his marriage to Jada? Here, we break down the rumors and the truth
Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith: Are They Still married?
In the time since Will famously slapped Chris Rock across the face at the Oscars, he and wife Jada Pinkett Smith have kept a low profile.
That all changed in late 2023, when Jada set out on her press tour to talk about her memoir, Worthy.
Natually, the press was interested in Jada’s marriage and how things were going with Will after nearly 30 years together.
That’s when she dropped the bombshell: Jada and Will were no longer together.
According to Jada, the couple had been secretly but effectively separated since 2016. At the time, that meant seven years of leading their own lives while masquerading as a still-committed couple.
However, legally speaking, the couple are still together. They are not, effectively, divorced.
“Yes, it was not a divorce on paper, but it was a divorce,” Jada told Today Show host Hoda Kotb.
She then touched upon rumors that had circulated about the couple. Some wild claims included whispers that the two were in a lavender marriage, or that they were swingers.
“I can definitely understand why there would be misunderstandings,” Jada diplomatically acknowledged. “But none of it’s true.”
But what is true is, when Will Smith shouted at Chris Rock to keep his “wife’s name” out of his mouth, Jada had not been Will’s wife for quite a bit of time.
Jada & Will Smith’s Divorce: Why Haven’t They Gone Through With It Officially?
Naturally, most people with the financial means to move on might find it easier to split than to pretend that their relationship remains unchanged.
So, why take the step of separating and not just pull the trigger on a divorce? Seven years is a long time to just be separated. But Jada insisted it was more complicated that that.
“I think just not being ready yet,” Jada reasoned. “Still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in a partnership.”
She continued: “And in regards to how do we present that to people, you know? And we hadn’t figured that out.”
“I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying,” Jada expressed. “I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.”
She admitted: “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.”
When it comes to divorcing now, even when this is no longer a secret, Jada emphasized: “We don’t want to. We love our family. And we love each other. It’s more of a life partnership. Ten years from now, Hoda, who knows?”
Will Smith Breaks His Silence On Split From Jada
In 2023, Will Smith told The New York Times that his wife’s open and honest discussion of matters of the head and heart were inspirational to him.
“When you’ve been with someone for more than half of your life, a sort of emotional blindness sets in,” he characterized.
Will acknowledged: “You can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties.”
A year later, while sitting down for and interview on 306 with Speedy, Will admitted that more revelations about his marriage would likely be discussed in the future, though maybe in less of a bombshell ways as befor.
“I’m gonna do it more artfully this year,” Will explained in March 2024. “I’m certainly going to be a little more delicate with it, but to me, the process of evolving and elevating and learning how to love, and learning how to share, and learning how to interact — that’s what we’re all doing”
Will Smith Is A Divorced Man: How His First Marriage Ended
In May of 1992, Will and Sheree married. They welcomed their son, Trey, in November of that year.
The married did not last. In 1995, the couple divorced — a painful decision that continues to haunt Will Smith, as he memorably told Jada on Red Table Talk in 2020.
“Divorce was the worst thing in my adult life, divorce was the ultimate failure for me,” Will Smith expressed. “I’ve been hurt a lot in my adult life, but I don’t think anything touches the failure of getting divorced from my 2-year-old son’s mother.”
Both Will and Sheree moved on. Will married Jada in 1996. Sheree married Terrell Fletcher in 2007, though the two would divorce in 2014.
Many people know Sheree best from The Real Housewives. She joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2002, both as a successful businesswoman and as a famous Hollywood ex.
Sheree and Will have managed to act as co-parents for Trey, even as exes. This has continued into Trey’s adulthood. Loving family units come in many shapes and sizes, and exes can still be family.
Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Today: Are They Still Together
As we’ve mentioned, for the most part the couple have kept a low profile.
Having said that, the man still has to go to work!
On Thursday, May 30, 2024, Will Smith made a public appearance with his family for the Bad Boys: Ride or Die premiere. That includes still-wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
His son Trey, whom he shares with ex-wife Sheree Zampino, was there. So were son Jaden and daughter Willow, whom he shares with Jada. Jada’s mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, was also present.
Will Smith and Jada are not divorced. But it’s clear that neither of them know exactly what the future holds for their family. They’re doing what works, for as long as it works.