Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith Separated Years Ago – They Were ‘Exhausted’ of Trying to Save ‘Fractured’ Marriage

• Hoda Kotb was shocked by Jada Pinkett Smith's revelation.
• A YouTube user said that they were "saddened" to hear of Jada and Will's separation.
• Jada has complemented her estranged husband on his parenting.

When Will Smith told Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscar ceremony to keep his wife's name out of his mouth, he was, in fact, separated from Jada Pinkett Smith.

They had not lived as man and wife in six years at that point but were not legally divorced, a revelation the actress made in her upcoming memoir, "Worthy." The two share two children.

Asked by "Today"s Hoda Kotb about what ruptured their relationship, Jada said that there were many factors that "fractured" their union:

"I think by the time we came to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kinda still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."

The "Matrix" actress considered ending their marriage through legal channels, but she could not go through with it. "We live separately," she confirmed.

In a clip from a sit-down with Kotb, she explained that she "had made a promise that there will never be a reason for them to get a divorce" and that they would work through issues. She has not been able to break the promise.

Discussing the pre-recorded interview with her colleagues, Kotb called it the "strangest revelation" to discover that the Hollywood power couple have been living separate lives. She revealed that the Smiths had no intention of getting a legal divorce.

In the comments, the actress' candor did not win her much sympathy. "Jada is insane," someone said. "I feel bad for Will; however, he has allowed it to go on all these years."

"I am so confused. So Will got banned from award shows for 10 years for literally no reason because she didn't even claim him since 2016. How more evil can this woman be?" one commented.

"Jada lost all my love for her; I don't get her at all," a former fan wrote. "I'm saddened by this information," another user commented.

In a People interview, the "Nutty Professor" star said that she and the father of her children were still figuring out the state of their marriage:

"We've been doing some really heavy-duty work together. We just got deep love for each other, and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us."

Will Smith Called Parenting an Art

During the Father's Day episode of "Red Table Talk" in June 2020, Jada Pinkett Smith told the "Wild Wild West" actor that he was "really a great father." They were teary-eyed when they embraced, the actor first kissing her on the cheek.

Will Smith felt he could do a better job at being a dad than his father. The actor became a dad at 24 with the birth of his first child, Trey Smith. The estranged couple agreed that there were no rules to parenting and that it was more an art than a science.