Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith Have Lived “Completely Separate Lives” Since 2016

Jada Pinkett Smith has revealed that she and Smith secretly separated in 2016 after nearly two decades of marriage, and have been “living completely separate lives” ever since.

The actor shares this surprising fact in her new memoir, Worthy — and though the book isn’t out until Oct. 17, it’s already making headlines thanks to a preview clip from Pinkett Smith’s upcoming primetime interview with TODAY host Hoda Kotb.

In the clip, Kotb says reading about the couple’s split surprised her so much that she had to re-read it and double-check it Pinkett Smith herself. Kotb then clarifies, “It was not a divorce on paper.” Pinkett Smith confirms this — and adds that the couple did divorce in an emotional sense.

When Kotb asks why their relationship became “fractured,” Pinkett Smith explains that several things had contributed to their split. “By the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying,” she says. “I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.”

She and Smith decided not to share that development with the public because, Pinkett Smith says, they were still “trying to figure out how to be in partnership in regards to, how do we present that to people?” Though the pair have considered divorcing legally, she adds, they haven’t been ready to file the papers. “I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through... whatever,” Pinkett Smith says. “I just haven’t been able to break that promise."

In a separate interview with PEOPLE, Pinkett Smith also confirmed that they’d already been separated for six years before Smith’s infamous slap at the 2022 Academy Awards. “We’ve been doing some really heavy-duty work together,” she told the magazine. “We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us.”

The pair have been open about their marriage issues in the past. In July 2020, Pinkett Smith went on Red Table Talk with Smith to reveal she’d had an “entanglement” with family friend August Alsina while the couple were separated.

“About four and a half years ago, I started a friendship with August,” she said, adding that she and Smith “were going through a very difficult time.” “I was done with your a**,” Smith joked. “I really felt like we could be over.” At the time, Pinkett Smith said her relationship with Alsina ended when the married couple decided to work through their issues and “heal.”

Now, fans know they never ended up getting back together. Instead, the two simply kept up appearances as husband and wife to support each other at major events — like the 2022 Oscars. According to Kotb, Pinkett Smith discusses that night in an entirely separate chapter of Worthy.