Will Smith Turns "Notifications Off" After Jada Pinkett Smith Marriage Revelations

After Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that she and Will Smith had been secretly separated, the Oscar winner posted a cheeky Instagram post with the caption: "Notifications off."

By Gabrielle Chung Oct 16, 2023 9:30 PMTags
Watch: Jada Pinkett Smith Reveals Marriage Separation Details

There's no bad blood between Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith despite secretly breaking up seven years ago.

Case in point: Their friendly exchange on the Oscar winner's Instagram page.

On Oct. 15, Will shared a video of himself taking a nap on a speeding boat, with the accompanying audio set to a track featuring various sound effects from different phone notifications. "Fun fact about me," the recording read, "I can take a nap almost everywhere."

The 55-year-old added in the caption alongside a smiley face: "Notifications off." 

Jada, 52, was clearly amused by the video, sharing emojis of laughing faces in the comments section.

Will's post came days after the Girls Trip star revealed that she and her husband had been living separate lives for years. "I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying," Jada shared of their marriage in an Oct. 11 interview with Today, while discussing her upcoming bombshell memoir Worthy. "I think we were both stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."

 

photos
Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith Through the Years

However, Jada—who shares kids Jaden Smith, 25, and Willow Smith, 22, with the actor—noted that they do not intend on legally separating. "I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce," she shared in her Oct. 13 NBC News special. "We will work through whatever, and I just haven't been able to break that promise." 

So, how does Will feel now that the truth has been made public? "I applaud and honor you," he wrote in a letter Jada, which was read to her by Jay Shetty during her appearance on his On Purpose podcast. "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."

 

Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum—who married Jada in 1997—also acknowledged that hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to their longtime relationship. "When you've been with someone for more than half of your life a sort of emotional blindness sets in," he told the New York Times in an email. "You can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties."

For everything Will and Jada have said about their marriage, keep reading.

Way Beyond Being "Married"

"We don't even say we're married anymore. We refer to ourselves as 'life partners,' where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life," Will Smith said during an interview with TIDAL's Rap Radar podcast. "There's no deal breakers. There's nothing she could do—ever—nothing that would break our relationship. She has my support till death, and it feels so good to get to that space."

Rumor Patrol

"I've heard all the things—their marriage is not real, he's gay, she's gay, they swing. But at the end of the day, people have to believe what they have to believe. I'll tell you what, it's too hard to be in a pretend marriage. Life's too short for that one." — Jada Pinkett Smith on Atlanta's Q100

Spill the Secrets

"There's really not a secret per se. If you don't get divorced that year, you get to add one more year to your marriage." — Will Smith to E! News 

Trust in the Smiths

"Should we be married to individuals who can not be responsible for themselves and their families within their freedom? Should we be in relationships with individuals who we can not entrust to their own values, integrity, and LOVE...for us??? Here is how I will change my statement...Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship...this means we have a GROWN one." — Jada Pinkett Smith on Facebook. 

Parent of the Year

"I'm not gonna be silly. I'm here to honor you. Just watching the piece with the kids it just takes me back to when we made them. Can't help but think about that. It's just amazing. It's like you take Jada Pinkett Smith and an obscure town in Mexico and some tequila and you end up with great kids!" — Will Smith at Vh1's Dear Mama Event

Stable Support

"You gotta trust who you're with, and at the end of the day, I'm not here to be anybody's watcher. I'm not his watcher. He's a grown man. I trust that the man that Will is is a man of integrity. HE's got all the freedom in the world, and as long as Will can look at himself in the mirror and be OK, I'm good." —Jada Pinkett Smith on The Howard Stern Show

Rumor Has It

"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." — Will Smith on Facebook

Love Wins

"I never thought about being married or having a family. I didn't know anything about that because I came from a single mom so I always though I'd be a single mom and have a career. Then I found this beautiful man, Will. I got married to him and I got my bonus son Trey and then I got Jaden and I got Willow and I was able to create, for myself, something I never had—which means family." — Jada Pinkett Smith at Vh1's Dear Mama Event

Super Woman

"She is just absolutely hardcore, like she absolutely is unfazed by the weight and the pressures of life. She is so calm and cool and easy in any situation. She can bear anything, and I just love that about her." — Will Smith to People 

Publicity Please

"If you really want to know, I'm thankful for the Hollywood scrutiny, that that's my problem. There are mothers out there losing their sons, their husbands, their daughters. I'm blessed. So scrutinize me. I'll take that any day over what the majority of my people are dealing with on a daily basis. I dare not complain." — Jada Pinkett Smith to American Way magazine 

Loyal to the End

"He's been by my side through some of the most difficult parts of my life. And so that's something you can never take away. A lot of other things, you never know, other things might change...but one thing is for sure: I love him deeply and he is my best friend." — Jada Pinkett Smith on HuffPost Live

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App