There are a few things about Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's marriage that many people
would consider to be, well, weird.
For instance, the famous pair reportedly stopped calling each other husband and wife some time
ago, and have hinted in interviews over the years that they don't necessarily believe
in monogamy.
But on July 10, 2020, they did something that many couples definitely wouldn't be willing
to do: They sat down together on Jada's Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk, to tell the
world about the state of their relationship, talking specifically about Jada's extramarital
affair with singer August Alsina.
As Will mentioned on the program, it's the first time the couple have ever officially
gone on record with the specifics of their personal romantic lives.
"We specifically never said anything."
"Right."
"So coming to the table was like, we just felt like, it got to the point where you gotta
say something.'"
During an episode of the former Gotham star's show, the couple, who have been married since
1997, both opened up about allegations made by Alsina, the 27-year-old recording artist
from Louisiana who was reportedly first introduced to Jada by her son, Jaden.
In a recent interview that made waves worldwide, the singer claimed that he had been involved
in a romantic relationship with Jada and even asserted that the relationship had Will's
"blessing."
Though Jada's representatives responded at the time by saying that Alsina's claims were,
quote, "absolutely not true," she's now saying something very different.
Jada didn't seem to hold back at all during the bombshell one-on-one discussion with her
husband on Red Table Talk. While opening up about what happened between herself and Alsina,
Jada explained that she first started a friendship with the singer more than four years ago,
becoming, quote, "really good friends" with him. In her words,
"It all started with him just needing some help, me wanting to help his health, his mental
state."
But she said a, quote, "entanglement" later developed between the pair during a time when
Jada was separated from Will, potentially permanently. Jada said that her time away
from Will allowed her to learn more about herself and her feelings toward her husband,
which she says has helped their marriage get to what she calls a "new place of unconditional
love."
That's probably the reason why Jada and Will were able to sit down together to have such
a tough-seeming, and very public, conversation.
"I feel like, it's healing that needs to happen."
August Alsina met the Smith family when he was 24 years old, according to the Los Angeles
Times. Claiming that August was in a hard spot in his personal life at the time, Jada
said she wanted to help the young R&B singer, leading to the Smiths inviting Alsina into
their home.
Over the following few years, Alsina and the Smiths remained close. According to Page Six,
Alsina went on vacation to Hawaii with the family in 2016 and went to the BET Awards
with Jada in 2017.
At some point though, Will and Jada secretly split. On Red Table Talk, Will went so far
as to say that he thought he was, quote, "done" with Jada, a sentiment that Jada confirmed.
In her words, quote, "We were over."
Describing how their relationship had seemed to come to an end, Jada pushed back against
one detail from Alsina's interview. Contradicting Alsina, Jada claimed that Will had never explicitly
given the relationship his blessing.
"I could actually see how he would perceive it as permission, because we were separated
amicably."
Jada went on to say,
"I think August also wanted to make it clear that he's not a homewrecker, which he's not."
Though Jada and Alsina did engage in a romantic "entanglement," sources told Page Six that
the relationship did not happen while Alsina was living in the Smiths' home.
August Alsina took a chance to share his side of the story in late June 2020, during the
leadup to the release of his new album The Product III: State of Emergency. Alsina shared
details about the relationship during an interview with radio show host Angela Yee, hosted on
his YouTube channel.
In the interview, Alsina stressed that he's not typically a fan of stirring up drama or
publicizing his own romantic life. In his words, he's not a troublemaker. But this time,
he says, it's different. With people questioning his character, he said he wanted to reveal
the truth about the nature of his relationship with Jada.
He said during the interview,
"There are so many people that are side-eyeing me...I've lost money, friendships, relationships
behind it. And I think it's because people don't necessarily know the truth, but I've
never done anything wrong."
Alsina insisted that he still has affection for the Smiths, calling them, quote, "beautiful
people." But he also revealed that walking away from his relationship with Jada nearly
destroyed him.
"To pull myself apart from it, it probably will be the hardest thing I ever experience
in this lifetime."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your
favorite celebrity romances are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the
bell so you don't miss a single one.