Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are in a new phase of their partnership.
The Girls Trip star recently dropped a bombshell when she revealed that she and her husband of over two decades have been separated for the past seven years.
Though not a legal "divorce on paper," the Girls Trip actress confirmed in an Oct. 11 preview for an upcoming interview with Today's Hoda Kotb that she and the Fresh-Prince alum have been living "completely separate lives."
"Why it fractured... that's a lot of things. By the time we got to 2016," Jada explained of what led to the split, "we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."
Over the years, Will and Jada have weathered a lot of speculation about their marriage, with the pair often doubling down on their relationship status. In fact, just one year before they quietly separated, the Oscar winner posted an impassioned rebuttal to speculation he and the Matrix alum were heading for divorce.
"Under normal circumstances, I don't usually respond to foolishness. (Because it's contagious)," he wrote in a 2015 Facebook post. "But, so many people have extended me their "deepest condolences" that I figured - "What the hell... I can be foolish, too! So, in the interest of redundant, repetitious, over & over-again-ness... Jada and I are...NOT GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! : -) I promise you all - if I ever decide to divorce my Queen - I SWEAR I'll tell you myself! #Dumb People Should Have to Wear Scarlet D's."
And the pair only ever admitted to a brief separation during their 2020 Red Table Talk episode addressing Jada's past relationship with August Alsina, which she described at the time as an "entanglement."
As for why Jada—who shares son Jaden, 25, and daughter Willow, 22, with Will—waited until now to confirm she and Will were no longer romantically involved?
"I think, just not being ready yet," the actress, who details her and the Oscar winner's split in her upcoming memoir Worthy, noted. "Still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership. In regards to, how do we present that to people? We hadn't figured that out."
To see even more of the couple's comments about each other and their relationship over the years, keep reading.