Jada Pinkett Smith's new autobiography Worthy is out on October 17, 2023 but she's been making shockwaves already during her promotional blitz.
The Matrix and Magic Mike actress has revealed in recent interviews with Today's Hoda Kotb and People that she has had a much more complicated relationship with Chris Rock than many knew, that her marriage to Will Smith has essentially been over since 2016, and declared that murdered rapper Tupac Shakur was her 'soulmate'.
Here's a look at the explosive moments she has already revealed before the tome hits shelves:
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been separated since 2017
In her interview with Today's Hoda Kotb, which airs in full on October 13 Jada, 52, dropped the bombshell that she and husband WilL had split in 2016. However, they have remained a united front and attended events together, and have not formally separated.
When asked why they had not divorced, she said: "I think just not being ready yet, still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership and in regards to, how do we present that to people? And we hadn't figured that out."
"Why it fractured, that's a lot of things," she said when asked why they ended their marriage, which began in 1997. The couple share kids Jaden, 25, and Willow, 22.
"I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted from trying. I think we were both stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."
Did Chris Rock date Jada Pinkett Smith?
Jada wrote in her new book, Worthy, that Chris had asked her out on a date. But in an interview with People magazine, she explained further:
"I think every summer all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce. And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce. "So he called me and basically he was like, ‘I'd love to take you out.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘Well, aren't you and Will getting a divorce?’ I was like, ‘No. Chris, those are just rumors.’ He was appalled. And he profusely apologized and that was that."
What did Jada Pinkett Smith say about the Oscars slap?
In 2022 at the Academy Awards, Will stormed the stage after Chris – who made an appearance to present an award – made a joke about Jada's alopecia which she had been diagnosed with years prior.
On live TV and in front of a live audience of all of Hollywood, he slapped Chris across the face, and in the immediate aftermath it was unclear to everyone in the room and at home watching if it was a skit. However, as Will walked back to his stage, Chris appeared shocked and Will then began screaming "keep my wife's name out of your mouth".
Will — who won and sheepishly accepted the Best Actor trophy later that evening — has since been banned from the Academy for 10 years.
Jada told People magazine that she felt like she was blamed for Will's actions.
"When we just look at human nature... when you look at the breadcrumbs, people need something to blame," Jada shared.
Will's defense of Jada has been consistent since the controversial night. In a video from July 2022, he said, "Jada had nothing to do with it," emphasizing that his altercation with Chris stemmed from personal history and not Jada's influence.
Was Jada Pinkett Smith offended by Chris Rock's joke?
"I mean, that's what comedians do," Jada said of the joke.
"I would just have to say that I am not really here to make any judgment on how people decide to express themselves and express their art. I'll say that several times I've had my feelings hurt, for sure. I've had my feelings hurt a lot by Chris. But at the end of the day, too, being in the spotlight, it comes with the territory."
Did Chris Rock apologize to Jada for the joke?
“Chris looks at me and he says, ‘Jada, I meant no harm,'" Jada told Hoda of the moments immediately after the assault.
“I'm just out of it because I'm really worried about Will. And Will's still talking. Now he’s mad because Chris is talking to me. And I go, ‘Chris, this is about some old [expletive].’ That’s all I could think of saying, right? And I couldn’t really take in his apology."
Do Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have a prenup?
The pair wed in 1997 but she told Parade that they do not have a prenuptial agreement.
"Listen, weddings are beautiful, but they can be very romanticized," Jada, 52, told the outlet. "I feel that was a very real moment for the two of us to look each other in the eyes, recognize that there would be tough times in this journey and to say to each other, 'No matter what, we’re going to figure it out, and that’s why we don’t need a prenup, because I’m making a promise that divorce won’t be necessary, that we will figure this out." '
Did Jada Pinkett Smith date Tupac Shakur?
Jada and rapper Tupac, also known as 2Pac, were school friends in the 1980s and she told Rolling Out that "if there is such a thing as past lives, I definitely think that Pac and I have traveled a few together".
Calling him her "soulmate," she insisted there was never any romantic "chemistry" between them. "It’s that friendship love chemistry," she said.
"It was almost like God made us that way."
2Pac was gunned down in 1996 in Las Vegas. Following the news that Las Vegas police arrested a man for the murder of Tupac Shakur, 26 years after his death, on September 29 2023, Jada shared that she hoped for "closure".
Did Jada Pinkett Smith deal drugs?
In her book, she details her mental health struggles and being diagnosed with PTSD. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland with her maternal grandmother, and parents who were addicts and violent.
Her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, was a heroin addict and is now sober, hosting Red Table Talk with Jada and Jada's daughter Willow. Her father, Robsol, was known to be violent and came in and out of her life throughout her childhood. He died in 2010. S
She attended a performing arts school but despite having a promising career ahead of her, began dealing drugs. “Growing up, the drug dealers were the ones that had affluence," she revealed.
Jada began selling crack cocaine, and acknowledged that during that time in her neighborhood, it was inescapable.
"You could use them, you could sell them, but there was no being in an environment like that and drugs not touch you. And I'm not saying that it's right, of course, now being in a whole different mindset. But when you're living in a war zone and you [are] just thinking about survival, I wasn't trying to use drugs. I surely wasn't going to be a drug dealer's girlfriend. But I wanted money so that I could be independent. I wanted to take care of myself."
Have Jada's kids Willow Smith or Jaden Smith said anything about her book or claims?
While neither Willow nor her brother have said anything publicly about their mom's memoir, including her revelation of Will and Jada's separation, Willow shared a telling, cryptic quote on her Instagram Stories.
"Resentment is literally the experience of feeling something over and over again (re-sentiment)," she said.
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