Jada Pinkett put the final nail in the coffin of her marriage to Will Smith when she admitted to the world that she was unfaithful to her husband in an on-air interview that left the Men in Black star “humiliated,” insiders claim. .
The actress, 52, made the shock revelation on Wednesday that she and her husband have been separated for seven years – since 2016 – claiming their marriage fell apart when they were both “exhausted” trying to save it.
However, a source close to the couple has now shed new light on the situation, claiming that the pair were actually working to repair their marriage behind the scenes, even after Jada’s infidelity, until July 2020, when she confirmed in a joint on-air appearance with Will that was in a relationship with another man, singer August Alsin.
The bombshell confession, which aired on Jade’s show Red Table Talk, reportedly left Will, 55, “humiliated” and ultimately proved to be the last straw for the actor regarding the future of his marriage. .
“Jada burned her marriage to the ground when she brought Will on Red Table Talk and publicly humiliated him in front of the world,” an insider told DailyMail.com.
Jada Pinkett Smith, 52, ‘set fire’ to her marriage to husband Will Smith, 58, when she admitted to cheating on him during a 2020 episode of Red Table Talk (pictured in that episode here)
During a 2020 episode of her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk LIVE, Jada told Will that she had ‘tangled up’ with singer August Alsin (seen with Jada in 2017)
Will (seen here in 2016, the year of her affair) ‘ defended Jada against accusations of infidelity at the time of the affair. He really believed she hadn’t cheated,” a source told DailyMail.com
They added that Will was particularly hurt by the fact that he so publicly defended his wife when August, now 31, first revealed he had an affair with Jada – just days before she confirmed the truth on her show.
“Will was defending Jada against accusations of infidelity at the time of the affair, and he was getting into it with people. He truly believed she hadn’t cheated. There was no coming back from that, and Jada knew it.’
During their confessional on Red Table Talk, Jada revealed to the world how her affair with August began – although she insisted that at the time she and Will were going through a “tough” phase and had “basically broken up”.
She added: “I was in a lot of pain and I was very broken. In the process of that relationship, I definitely realized that you can’t find happiness outside of yourself.
While promoting her upcoming book Worthy, Jada said she thinks the Oscars slap was ‘a skit’, which a source says ‘doesn’t benefit Will, who is trying to move on from the incident’
‘I just wanted to feel good, it’s been so long since I’ve felt good… and it was really a joy just to help someone heal.’
Her admission came after August sat down with The Breakfast Club’s Angela Yee on June 30 that year and told her he was in love with Jada during their relationship – to which he said he devoted ‘years of his life’.
“I sat down with Will (Smith) and talked about the transformation from their marriage to a life partnership … he gave me his blessing,” August said.
‘I gave myself completely to that relationship for years of my life, and I really and really, really deeply love and have a ton of love for her.’
However, Jada vehemently denied August’s claims that Will had given him ‘permission’ to continue his relationship with his wife, noting that it was ‘weird’ that he was engaging in what she described as ‘messing around’ with the singer all these years later because he decided to broadcast it.
However, both she and Will said they have worked to reach a ‘new place of unconditional love’ in the years since it happened.
At one point in the conversation, they even called and said, “We’re riding together.” We die together. Bad marriage for life’, a reference to the catchphrase in Will’s Bad Boys franchise.
On Wednesday, Jada dramatically reversed that statement, telling the world in a candid interview with NBC News that they had actually been separated since 2016 — the same year she began her relationship with Augusta — four years before Red Chuck’s conversation at the table happened.
At the 2022 Oscars, Will made a very dramatic and public display of commitment to Jada when he slapped host Chris Rock for a joke about Jada’s looks.
Will (pictured with Jada in the midst of her affair in 2016) told People at the time “Jada and I are not getting divorced”
Jada and Will pictured at the 2022 Oscars with children Jaden and Willow, as well as Will’s son Trey, 30, from his first wife Sherry Zampino
Her stunning admission came as part of a series of revelations the actress shared while promoting her upcoming book Worthy – which also addresses the infamous moment her husband slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars after the comedian made a joke about Jada bald head amid her battle with alopecia.
In an interview with People to promote her new book Worthy, Jada revealed she thinks the whole incident was a ‘sketch’.
“I was like, ‘This is a skit,’” she told the outlet. “I was like, ‘There’s no way Will’s going to hit him.’
According to the source, the admission has not helped her ‘fractured’ relationship with Will, who is said to be desperately trying to move on from the incident once and for all.
“Hearing Jada telling people that she didn’t support his decision to slap Chris and that she thinks it was a skit is not helping Will trying to move on from this incident,” the source said.
“Will knew about this big reveal that Jada was doing, but it’s not helping him at all.”
Will and Jada, who married in 1997, share son Jaden, 25, and daughter Willow, 23, while the I’m Legend star also has son Trey from a previous relationship.
Jada’s latest interview questioned the authenticity of the couple, after declaring their love and commitment to each other, posing on the red carpet, sharing tributes on Instagram and regularly referring to each other as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ over the past seven years.
DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Jade and Villa for comment.
EXCLUSIVE: Jada Pinkett Smith ‘TORCHED her marriage’ to Will Smith once and for all when she confessed to her AFFAIR in 2020 tell-all that left him ‘humiliated’ – after he’d spent four years trying to save the romance in the wake of her infidelity
