Jada Pinkett Smith stunned the world today when she revealed that she and husband Will Smith have secretly been separated for seven years – citing their ‘exhaustion with trying’ as the reason behind their split.

In a bombshell interview, Jada, 52, remained vague about what it was that ‘fractured’ their marriage, which the pair have continued to fake in public until today, saying only that there were a ‘lot of things’ that led to their 2016 separation.

However, what Jada failed to mention is that the split happened in the same year that she had an affair with singer August Alsina – making no reference to the scandalous ‘entanglement’ with the younger man, which she first revealed to the world in 2020.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Today host Hoda Kotb asked the Gotham actress why their relationship fractured, to which she replied: ‘Oh, why it fractured? That’s a lot of things, and I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying.’

The mother-of-two, who said they are not looking to get divorced, continued: ‘I think we were both kind of still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be. 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.’

It was also around this time, in 2016, that Jada was romantically involved with August – who is 21 years her junior.

Jada Pinkett Smith has revealed that she and husband Will Smith have been separated for seven years

Jada had an affair with singer August Alsina in 2016, which she later referred to as an ‘entanglement’ before admitting it was a relationship

The 52-year-old actress opened up about her life during an explosive interview with NBC News

News of Jada’s fling with August first emerged in 2020 – but she and Will initially denied the allegations, claiming they were ‘absolutely not true’.

In a bombshell interview with radio host Angela Yee on June 30 that year, August said that he had been romantically involved with Jada and that he had received Will’s blessing.

‘I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation due to the transformation from their marriage to life partnership. He gave me his blessing,’ he explained.

‘I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really, deeply loved and have a ton of love for her. I devoted myself to it.

‘I gave my full self to it. So much so that I can die right now, and be okay knowing that I fully gave myself to somebody, some people never get that in this lifetime. It almost killed me. Not almost. It did – it pushed me into being another person. It broke me down.’

August continued: ‘It probably will be the hardest thing I ever had to experience in this lifetime. Contrary to what some people may believe, I’m not a troublemaker. I don’t like drama. Drama actually makes me nauseous.

‘I also don’t think that it’s ever important for people to know what I do, who I sleep with, who I date, right? But in this instance, there are so many people who are side-eyeing me… And I think it’s because people don’t necessarily know the truth,’ he added.

The following month, Jada sat down with Will to address the rumors regarding the status of their relationship – and decided to film the entire conversation on camera as part of her Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk.

Jada and Will, pictured here in 2019, continued to attend events publicly together despite being separated

August, pictured here in 2016, said he ‘devoted’ himself to his relationship with Jada

Jada Pinkett Smith confesses to affair with August Alsina

Jada confirmed that she was in an ‘entanglement’ with August – but insisted that she and Will were separated at the time.

‘We were over,’ she said to Will on the episode. ‘From there, as time went on, I got into a different kind of entanglement with August.’

However, the pair denied August’s claim that Will had given him permission to pursue the relationship with Jada.

‘One of the things I want to clear up that was kind of swirling in the press was you giving permission, which the only person who can give permission in that particular circumstance is myself,’ Jada said.

‘But what August was actually trying to communicate – because I could actually see how he would perceive it as permission because we were separated amicably – I think he also wanted to make it clear that he’s not a homewrecker, which he’s not.’

Jada confirmed that she and Will met August through their son Jaden and recalled the singer, who would have been 23 at the time, was ‘really sick’.

‘It all started with him just needing some help, me wanting to help his health, his mental state,’ she explained.

‘The outpouring for him from our family was initially about his health. We found all those different resources to help pull him through and from there you and I were going through a very difficult time,’ she said to Will.

Following Jada’s confession Will admitted: ‘I was done with you.’ Jada added that they decided to separate for a ‘period of time’.

‘And then what did you do, Jada?’ Will asked, as he urged his wife to keep talking.

‘As time went on, I got into a different type of entanglement with August,’ Jada explained.

When Will pushed Jada to clarify what she meant by ‘entanglement’ she responded: ‘It was a relationship, absolutely.’

She continued: ‘I was in a lot of pain, and I was very broken. In the process of that relationship I definitely realized that you can’t find happiness outside yourself.’

After Jada admitted to having an affair with the singer–songwriter, some of Will’s comments led viewers to question whether he’d had his own dalliances in the past.

The Gemini Man star said the couple had ‘made mistakes without fear of losing’ their family.

‘We came together young and we were both broken in our own ways. To be able to make mistakes without fear of losing your family is so critical,’ he said.

Jada spoke to Today host Hoda Kotb about her personal life and why she hasn’t gone through with a divorce in an exclusive interview ahead of the release of her book

Will and Jada pictured with their children Willow and Jaden and also his son Trey (left) in 2022

Will and Jada, pictured together here in 1998, have decided not to legally get divorced

The couple, who got married in 1997, have continued to attend red carpet events together

A couple of years prior to their Red Table Talk interview, Will said that the couple no longer used the ‘married’ title but instead referred to each other as ‘life partners’.

‘We don’t even say we’re married anymore,’ he told BET in 2018, before adding: ‘We 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.’

Jada has been married to Will since 1997. They are parents to Jaden, 25, and daughter Willow, 22. Will has a son Trey, 30, from his first marriage to Sheree Zampino, 55.