Key Insights
- Relationship Status: Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are still legally married but have led separate lives for years.
- Marriage Work: They have engaged in “deep work” on their marriage, especially following the Oscars incident in 2022.
- Separation Reason: Jada indicated that exhaustion from trying to maintain their relationship contributed to their separation.
- Future Together: Jada expressed that they will remain together forever, despite not officially divorcing.
Jada Pinkett Smith first sparked widespread conversation about her marriage to Will Smith while promoting her 2023 memoir, Worthy. In the book, the Girls Trip actress revealed that she and Will quietly separated in 2016, despite remaining legally married. She later expanded on those revelations during interviews, including an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in November 2025.
Now, years after those bombshell disclosures, fans are still wondering where the couple stands today. While Jada and Will have continued to lead largely separate lives, they have not divorced and have made occasional public appearances together. So are they still together — or simply still married?
Are Will and Jada Pinkett Smith Still Together Now?
It appears that the couple are still together, as Jada revealed during a convention in New York City that she and Will have done some “deep work” on their marriage, according to Variety.
“After the Oscars, that’s when we did some really deep work together,” the Set It Off actress noted, referring to Will’s “Oscars slap” against Chris Rock in 2022. “I was like, ‘I’m riding with you. I didn’t come into this place as your wife, but I’m leaving here as your wife because we got a storm we’re going to have to deal with together. I am not gonna leave your side.’”
However, the former Red Table Talk co-host previously sparked major controversy when she confessed that she and the Aladdin actor had been living “separate lives” for several years during her NBC News interview in October 2023.
On Thanksgiving in 2023, Jada and Will cozied up together as they posed for a photo with their arms wrapped around each other.
Why Did Will and Jada Pinkett Smith Separate?
During her NBC interview, Jada seemingly hinted at the reason for her and Will’s separation. She noted that they became “exhausted with trying” to work on their relationship, adding, “I think we were both kind of still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.”
In response to his wife’s claims, Will responded to The New York Times in a comment, in which he seemingly took responsibility for their estrangement. “When you’ve been with someone for more than half of your life, a sort of emotional blindness sets in, and you can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties,” the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star admitted.
As for the timeline of their separation, Jada shed some light on how it happened during her October 16 appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast, “On Purpose with Jay Shetty.”
“Will decided he wanted to come with [me], and we were going to then tell the world, ‘Hey, we haven’t been together and this happened during that time,’” Jada confessed, referring to a 2020 episode of Red Table Talk. “He wasn’t ready for the world to know that. I had to respect that. Well I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.”
Why Jada ‘Can’t Divorce’ Will Smith
Jada was given the chance to listen to a letter from Will. The Emancipation actor penned the note to his wife in response to Worthy, and podcast host Jay read it out loud for her during her interview with him.
“I just turned the final page of Worthy. It is amazing to realize that despite having lived most of my life by your side, I still found myself shocked and stunned and caught off guard, laughing, then inspired, then heartbroken I was all over the place,” Will explained. “It’s one thing to hear anecdotes at a family barbecue, but it was truly overwhelming to take in your story, potently condensed in this way.”
Will also pointed out he knew that it “wasn’t easy to excavate the depths in that way” and added, “I applaud and honor you. If I had read this book 30 years ago, I definitely would have hugged you more. I’ll start now. Welcome to the Authors’ Club. I love you endlessly. Now, go get some Merlot and take a rest.”
After tearing up at her husband’s note, Jada joked, “He knows I can’t have no Merlot. That’s beautiful. That’s why I can’t divorce that joker.”
Jada Says They’ll Be ‘Together Forever’
During the above-mentioned interview with Drew Barrymore, Jada reinforced the idea that she and Will won’t ever officially divorce each other when asked about their relationship status. “We’re staying together forever,” she said. “I tried. We tried.”
