Jada Pinkett-Smith Talks August Alsina Relationship & Will Separation

Red Carpet Event for the premiere of Apple Original Films’ “Emancipation”. 30 Nov 2022 Pictured: Trey Smith, Willow Smith, Jaden Smith, Will Smith, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Photo credit: GilbertFlores@Broadimage / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA922279_002.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]

Jada Pinkett-Smith finally addressed August Alsina’s claims that they had a relationship while she was married to Will Smith. The actress used her talk show, Red Table Talk, which airs on Facebook Watch, to break her silence about August’s accusations on July 10. Will also appeared in the interview.

Jada admitted to having an “entanglement” (which she later clarified was a “relationship”) with August about four and a half years ago. She said that their relationship started out as a friendship, but turned into more when she and Will briefly separated. “[At the time] it was indefinite [that we were broken up],” Jada admitted. “We were over.”

jada pinkett smith august alsina — Shutterstock

“About four and a half years ago, I started a friendship with August,” Jada explained. “We actually became really, really good friends. It all started with needing some help, and me wanting to help with his health and his mental state.” Will added that August was “really sick” when he and Jada first met him, and revealed that the entire Smith family had shown the rising star support.

All of this was going on while Jada and Will were going through a “difficult time” in their relationship, which eventually led to them separating. After explaining all of that, Jada touched on the rumors that Will had given her “permission” to start a relationship with August. “The only person who can give permission in that particular circumstance is myself,” she insisted. “But what August was probably trying to communicate — because I could actually see how he would perceive it as permission, because we were separated, amicably — I think he also wanted to make it clear that he’s not a homewrecker, which he’s not.”

As for why she felt she needed to become involved with August during the separation, Jada said, “I just wanted to feel good.” She added, “It had been so long since I felt good. It was really a joy to just help heal somebody, too. I think that has a lot to do with my co-dependency, which is another thing I had to learn to break in this cycle — just that idea of needing to fix, and being drawn to people that need help.”

Eventually, Jada and Will decided to work on their relationship, and at that point, August cut off all communication with Jada completely. “[That] was totally understandable,” Jada admitted. Now, she and Will are in a good place.

Speculation about Jada and August’s relationship began after he released the song “Nunya” in 2019. The track featured the lyrics, “You got me feeling like it’s an act, you’re just an actress, putting on a show, cause you don’t want the world to know.” In the music video for the song, a text message pops up on the screen from someone named “Koren,” which is Jada’s middle name.

At the time, August denied that the song was about Jada. However, during an interview with The Breakfast Club’s Angela Yee on June 30, he had some new claims to make about his history with the Girls Trip star. In addition to claiming that he had a close relationship with Jada, August also insinuated that Will and Jada have an open marriage. In fact, he claimed that Will knew about the relationship he and Jada had.

“He gave me his blessing,” August said. “And I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really, deeply loved and have a ton of love for her. I devoted myself to it. I gave my full self to it. So much so that I can die right now and be okay knowing that I fully gave myself to somebody.” After August’s interview, Jada’s rep said that the singer’s story was “absolutely not true” and Will’s said that the report was “wrong.”

Still, the Internet was buzzing about August’s accusation for days. On July 2, Jada finally took to Twitter to address the situation herself. “There’s some healing that needs to happen,” she wrote. “So I’m bringing myself to the Red Table.” She did not share when her Red Table Talk episode would actually pop up, so it was a complete surprise when the interview aired eight days later. Now, we finally know Jada’s whole truth.