They’ve left us guessing about their very modern marriage, ever since admitting in 2023 that – though they were no longer together – they were also never officially splitting up. But Will Smith and Jada Pinkett’s strange situationship came under the microscope again last week, after Will got very steamy with singer India Martinez on stage at the Premio Lo Nuestro award show in Miami. Cosying up together while they performed their duet First Love, Will threw caution to speculation as he leaned in to kiss India, before placing his hands on her backside – prompting fans to ask the million-dollar question: what about Jada? One social media user even slammed the married actor’s behaviour as ‘inappropriate’.
Now, we’re told, the former couple are readying themselves to take the next step in their very prolonged split. Having rejected reports for years that they’ll ever officially divorce, even after parting from their marital home and discreetly living 'separate lives', it now seems that both sides are properly considering the option. After all, they both know they can’t live in limbo forever, and their reluctance to “rip the band-aid off” for good isn’t just affecting them, but it’s also having an impact on their children, Jaden, 26, and Willow, 24, who apparently feel just as stuck in the impasse.
'No one doubts that there is still a lot of love and loyalty between Will and Jada,' says an insider close to the former couple, who got married in 1997, secretly split in 2016, but reportedly still lived together until 2021. 'The fact that they’re living in totally separate houses now and going about life in opposite directions tells its own story. The writing is on the wall and it’s been that way for some time, but they’ve avoided pulling the trigger on a formal divorce because it suited them to stay together – both financially and emotionally, as bizarre as that may seem to the outside world. But they can’t put it off forever, and deep down both Will and Jada know that staying technically married but living a totally separate life is not a long-term option. What’s more, Willow and Jayden are supremely supportive of their parents and have been really understanding, but the instability of things does take a toll. This whole situation of their parents being in between married and separated is way too much to handle.'
While Will’s saucy stunt with singer India last week visibly attested to his and Jada’s estrangement, this isn’t the first hint that they’re now living totally single, separate lives. The former Men in Black star also attended the Grammy’s earlier this month without Jada by his side, despite the fact that, until now, she’s continued to support him on red carpets, even after they confirmed their separation. Will’s solo appearance was even more significant, as it came almost three years to the day since that infamous moment at the 2022 Oscars, when the actor stormed the stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock, who’d just made a joke about Jada’s alopecia, before shouting, 'Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!'
At the time, we all believed they were still together. It was only later, in Jada’s 2023 memoir Worthy, that she revealed they hadn’t even been together at the time – but that Will’s public defence of her in that moment had made her re-commit to him as a life partner. 'That was a moment that I knew I would never leave Will's side after all those years thinking I would,' Jada told Extra. 'I didn't go in there as his wife, but I was leaving as his wife.'
Still, a lot has changed since that Oscar moment, and – as our sources explain – the pair have come to the realisation that keeping things at a stalemate is preventing them from moving on for good. Every time they step out solo or with someone else, they’ll be scrutinised and judged, and face endless questions. So, however much it hurts to pull the plug – and, however expensive and complicated it may be, with a combined fortune of $400m, and no pre-nup in place – they’re both quietly making arrangements to make things official.
'With all their shared assets, it will be complicated and highly charged, to say the least, but they both deserve better,' says our source. 'So, it’s a case of ripping off that band-aid and making some hard decisions. The fact that Jada didn’t attend the Grammy’s with Will says so much about the state of their relationship. Clearly, she’s not willing to keep up the charade anymore.'
As readers may remember, the charade has been a long and winding narrative of confusing events and mixed messages. In 2020, before they ever admitted that they’d split, Will and Jada sat down for an episode of Jada’s Facebook series Red Table Talk, and discussed her 'entanglement' a few years prior with singer August Alsina. At the time, it seemed as if Jada had cheated on Will and that he’d forgiven her – a story she later said she’d accepted, taking the mantle as 'the adulterous wife'. They ended the episode by bumping fists, rehashing their famous slogan, 'We ride together, we die together, bad marriage for life.'
Years later, while promoting her memoir, Jada reflected again on their status, saying that – though they were now living separately – there would come a day when she’d move back in with the Oscar-winner because, in her words, 'Will’s getting old. I’m staying quite young, but it’s getting apparent to me that he’s gonna need someone to take care of him.'
For now, at least, it seems they’re both resolved to the fact that – however tempting it may be to keep things as they are – it’s not serving anybody in the long run. At some point soon, one of them is going to have to make the decisive move to cut the cord, and Will’s onstage PDA last week might just have been the signal Jada needed to do just that.