Will Smith knows Jada Pinkett Smith's bombshell memoir is worthy of all the praise.
After reading the book, "I applaud and honor you," he wrote in a letter to Jay Shetty, who relayed the message to Jada on an upcoming episode of his podcast On Purpose. "If I had read this book 30 years ago, I definitely would have hugged you more. I'll start now. Welcome to the author's club. I love you endlessly. Now go get some Merlot and take a rest."
Worthy, which hits bookshelves Oct. 17, details Jada's relationship with Tupac Shakur, how she overcame suicidal ideation, the Oscars slap felt around the world and the truth about her marriage to Will, who she has been secretly separated from for seven years.
For the actor, who wed Jada in 1997, the tome was a bit of a wake-up call, he acknowledged in an email to the New York Times.
"When you've been with someone for more than half of your life a sort of emotional blindness sets in," the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum wrote, noting that he hadn't realized just how on the edge she had lived. "You can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties."
And though they've been apart since 2016, with Jada even moving out and buying her own home, the duo—who share kids Jaden Smith, 25, and Willow Smith, 22—have no plans to legally split.
"I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce," the Red Table Talk host said in the interview with Hoda Kotb. "We will work through whatever, and I just haven't been able to break that promise."
As for what ultimately drove them apart? Well...
"That's a lot of things," the 52-year-old told Hoda. "I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."
To look back on what that fantasy once was, keep reading...
Stunner in a blue outfit (dress?)! Will and Jada are all smiles at the Devil in a Blue Dress premiere in 1995.
Have you ever seen anything more '90s glam than this? The couple poses together in 1997, the year they got married.
Jada is styling more than just a trendy silver coat in this 1998 red carpet photo: she's showing off her baby bump in a sleek black dress. Jaden Smith was born on July 8, 1998.
Hats off to the couple who never cease to show up on a red carpet in style. Here they are together at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California in 2005.
Jada ignored the old superstition of never wearing to black to a wedding as she and Will head to Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's 2006 wedding in Rome, Italy.
The kids are here in London, England with Will and Jada on the red carpet at The Karate Kid premiere in 2010.
Orange you glad to see this picture of Will and Jada together? The happy couple smiles in New York City in 2010.
Willow, Jaden, Will, and Jada Pinkett Smith pose together in a family shot at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012.
Jada dazzles in green as she and Will arrive at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2016.
Everyone is all smiles for a family vacation after making a quick pit stop at the 2018 World Cup.
Will posts an Instagram tribute to wife Jada, acknowledging that they've been together for "HALF OUR LIVES!"
Entanglement
In 2020, Will and Jada addressed Jada's alleged affair with August Alsina.
Admitting she and August had an "entanglement" while she and Will were separated, she explained, "It was a relationship. I was in a lot of pain and I was very broken. In the process of that relationship I definitely realized you can't find happiness outside of yourself. Luckily enough, you and I were also going through a process of healing in a much different manner."
2022 Oscars
During the 2022 Academy Awards, Will slapped host Chris Rock over a joke the comedian made about Jada's shaved head.
After the slap, Will resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and was banned from its events for 10 years. He also apologized to Chris—calling the slap "unacceptable" and noting "there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment."
Separation News
In Oct. 2023, Jada revealed she and Will have been separated for 7 years, including the six leading up to the 2022 Oscars.
"We're still figuring it out," Jada told People in a profile published Oct. 11. "We've been doing some really heavy-duty work together. We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us."