Will Smith and Jada Pinkett’s complicated (open) relationship: from their unconventional marriage to Jada’s ‘entanglement’ with August Alsina – but what did she say about the Oscars slap?

Jun 16 , 2022

Months on from that Oscar night slap, what do we know about the complicated relationship of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith? Photo: AFP

Will was visibly uncomfortable on Jada’s talk show, Red Table Talk, when she discussed her affair with Alsina with him – but he’s also confessed to fantasies about Halle Berry

The couple has two kids – Jaden and Willow – with whom they use a much criticised ‘relaxed’ parenting style, while Will also has a son, Trey, from his marriage to Sheree Zampino

Hollywood power couples aren’t always blessed with fairy tale relationships – as we’ve witnessed with the likes of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and with the recent Johnny Depp and Amber Heard court case. While Depp decides how best to move on since the winding up of that drama, we don’t need much to be reminded of that high-profile slap at the Oscars that shocked the world in March, about which questions remain – chiefly, what made Will Smith lose his cool to that extent?

Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith at the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony in March. Photo: Ampas via Zuma Press Wire Service/DPA

Many speculate that it came down to the nature of his marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith. The two first met in 1994 when Jada was auditioning for a role in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Although she didn’t get the part, she apparently made an impression on Will, who was married to Sheree Zampino at the time. After his split from the RHOBH star, Will and Jada began dating and got married in 1997.

Over 28 years since they first laid eyes on each other, Will, 53, and Jada, 50, have two kids together who also enjoy the showbiz spotlight: Jaden, 23, and Willow, 21, as well as Will’s first son Trey from his marriage to Zampino.

So what do we know about their high-profile, high-octane relationship?

Jada’s reluctance to get married

A pregnant Jada Pinkett at the ShoWest convention in 1998, in Las Vegas. Photo: AP

Will proposed to Jada when she was pregnant with Jaden in her late 20s and she said yes. But according to multiple sources, Jada didn’t actually want to get married and even cried at her “horrible” wedding in Maryland. She claims that it was her mother who “forced” her to walk down the aisle.

In Will’s eponymous memoir, Will, he said that that was the first of many compromises Jada made for their relationship.

The cheating rumours

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x