How Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith Responded to Breakup Rumors Years Before Separation

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are in a new phase of their partnership.

The Girls Trip star recently dropped a bombshell when she revealed that she and her husband of over two decades have been separated for the past seven years.

Though not a legal "divorce on paper," the Girls Trip actress confirmed in an Oct. 11 preview for an upcoming interview with Today's Hoda Kotb that she and the Fresh-Prince alum have been living "completely separate lives."

"Why it fractured... that's a lot of things. By the time we got to 2016," Jada explained of what led to the split, "we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."

Over the years, Will and Jada have weathered a lot of speculation about their marriage, with the pair often doubling down on their relationship status. In fact, just one year before they quietly separated, the Oscar winner posted an impassioned rebuttal to speculation he and the Matrix alum were heading for divorce.

"Under normal circumstances, I don't usually respond to foolishness. (Because it's contagious)," he wrote in a 2015 Facebook post. "But, so many people have extended me their "deepest condolences" that I figured - "What the hell... I can be foolish, too! So, in the interest of redundant, repetitious, over & over-again-ness... Jada and I are...NOT GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! : -) I promise you all - if I ever decide to divorce my Queen - I SWEAR I'll tell you myself! #‎Dumb People Should Have to Wear Scarlet D's."

And the pair only ever admitted to a brief separation during their 2020 Red Table Talk episode addressing Jada's past relationship with August Alsina, which she described at the time as an "entanglement."

As for why Jada—who shares son Jaden, 25, and daughter Willow, 22, with Will—waited until now to confirm she and Will were no longer romantically involved?

"I think, just not being ready yet," the actress, who details her and the Oscar winner's split in her upcoming memoir Worthy, noted. "Still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership. In regards to, how do we present that to people? We hadn't figured that out."

To see even more of the couple's comments about each other and their relationship over the years, keep reading.

"We don't even say we're married anymore. We refer to ourselves as 'life partners,' where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life," Will Smith said during an interview with TIDAL's Rap Radar podcast. "There's no deal breakers. There's nothing she could do—ever—nothing that would break our relationship. She has my support till death, and it feels so good to get to that space."

"I've heard all the things—their marriage is not real, he's gay, she's gay, they swing. But at the end of the day, people have to believe what they have to believe. I'll tell you what, it's too hard to be in a pretend marriage. Life's too short for that one." — Jada Pinkett Smith on Atlanta's Q100

"There's really not a secret per se. If you don't get divorced that year, you get to add one more year to your marriage." — Will Smith to E! News 

"Should we be married to individuals who can not be responsible for themselves and their families within their freedom? Should we be in relationships with individuals who we can not entrust to their own values, integrity, and LOVE...for us??? Here is how I will change my statement...Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship...this means we have a GROWN one." — Jada Pinkett Smith on Facebook. 

"I'm not gonna be silly. I'm here to honor you. Just watching the piece with the kids it just takes me back to when we made them. Can't help but think about that. It's just amazing. It's like you take Jada Pinkett Smith and an obscure town in Mexico and some tequila and you end up with great kids!" — Will Smith at Vh1's Dear Mama Event

"You gotta trust who you're with, and at the end of the day, I'm not here to be anybody's watcher. I'm not his watcher. He's a grown man. I trust that the man that Will is is a man of integrity. HE's got all the freedom in the world, and as long as Will can look at himself in the mirror and be OK, I'm good." —Jada Pinkett Smith on The Howard Stern Show

"In the interest of redundant, repetitious, over & over-again-ness... Jada and I are...NOT GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! : -) I promise you all - if I ever decide to divorce my Queen - I SWEAR I'll tell you myself! #‎Dumb‬ People Should Have to Wear Scarlet D's." — Will Smith on Facebook

"I never thought about being married or having a family. I didn't know anything about that because I came from a single mom so I always though I'd be a single mom and have a career. Then I found this beautiful man, Will. I got married to him and I got my bonus son Trey and then I got Jaden and I got Willow and I was able to create, for myself, something I never had—which means family." — Jada Pinkett Smith at Vh1's Dear Mama Event

"She is just absolutely hardcore, like she absolutely is unfazed by the weight and the pressures of life. She is so calm and cool and easy in any situation. She can bear anything, and I just love that about her." — Will Smith to People 

"If you really want to know, I'm thankful for the Hollywood scrutiny, that that's my problem. There are mothers out there losing their sons, their husbands, their daughters. I'm blessed. So scrutinize me. I'll take that any day over what the majority of my people are dealing with on a daily basis. I dare not complain." — Jada Pinkett Smith to American Way magazine 

"He's been by my side through some of the most difficult parts of my life. And so that's something you can never take away. A lot of other things, you never know, other things might change...but one thing is for sure: I love him deeply and he is my best friend." — Jada Pinkett Smith on HuffPost Live