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Jada Pinkett Smith now says she and Will Smith are 'staying together forever'

By Stephanie Weaver
Published  November 28, 2023 5:29pm PST
Entertainment
FOX TV Stations

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Jada Pinkett Smith is now saying she and Will Smith are in it for the long haul despite previously announcing that they had been separated since 2016.

Pinkett Smith, who was promoting her new memoir "Worthy" on "The Drew Barrymore Show" Tuesday, confirmed that she and the "Men in Black" star would be continuing their marriage.

"I feel like maybe your and his shadow separated in a way in this book, whether they stay together forever or not," Barrymore said. "It sounds like you’re staying together forever." 

"We’re staying together forever," Pinkett Smith, 52, responded. "I tried. We tried," alluding to the couple’s separation that ultimately didn’t last.

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Actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith arrive at the Los Angeles World Premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures 'Focus' at TCL Chinese Theatre on February 24, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Last month, the actress told NBC News’ Hoda Kotb in an exclusive interview that the couple had actually been separated since 2016 and that the two had been living "completely separate lives."

Pinkett Smith said a year ago that she was beginning to write the book, and that it would be an "honest and gripping memoir" that would cover her "complicated marriage to Will Smith," among other topics. 

The couple, who have been married since 1997 and share two children together, have still appeared together in public as a united front – including the infamous night at the 2022 Oscars in which Will Smith slapped host Chris Rock. 

Will Smith vs. Chris Rock: What led up to the Oscars slap and what happened after

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock during the Oscars after he made a joke about his wife's hair loss. Here's a look at the timeline of events before and after the altercation.

In her conversation with Kotb, she alluded to "a lot of things" that caused the breakdown of their relationship, and said that come 2016 – years before that night at the Oscars – that she and Will were both "exhausted with trying."

EARLIER: Jada Pinkett Smith says she and Will Smith have been separated since 2016

"I think we were both just kind of stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be," she added.

She also said she wasn’t able to bring herself to legally get divorced, despite living separately for the last seven years. 

This story was reported from Los Angeles.

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