From the time I was a teenager up until my early 20’s, I pictured Will and Jada Pinkett Smith as the perfect couple. They were just so cute together that their union seemed meant to be.
Back when Ebony magazine had their “10 Hottest Couples” issue each year (holla at me if you remember that), I remember Will and Jada making the list three to five times straight. When they finally tied the knot—and announced that they were also expecting their first child together—I cheered. I especially thought Will and Jada were bonafide couple goals when they released their “1,000 Kisses” duet back in mid 2002.
Throughout their marriage, it’s been rumored that Will and Jada were a swingin’ couple, but I refused to accept that. I wanted to continue believing that it was possible for a married couple to stay happy without straying, whether it was a mutual agreement or one (or both) of the spouses creepin’ on the low. I still disagree with the idea of an open marriage, but that’s another topic for another time (no disrespect to anyone intended, by the way). As the years went by, I noticed that Will and Jada weren’t quite as lovey dovey as they once were, and the couple that seemed inseparable weren’t together as much. Although I peeped this dynamic, I wasn’t alarmed. I was a lot older and wiser by this time and I knew that after 20+ years, Will and Jada’s honeymoon phase ended a long time ago. Realistically, married couples reach a phase in their lives where the passion cools and they’re just comfortable around each other. However, it turns out there was something else happening behind the scenes.
I first caught wind of that something when my girl Lovelyti reported on a young singer named August Alsina (who’s also a close friend of Jaden Smith) recording a breakup song about Jada circa Apr. 2019. Here’s the video of her entire breakdown:
With August’s song being released, those rumblings about The Smiths having an open relationship were getting too loud to ignore. The rumblings became louder when I learned about the birthday shoutout August wrote to Jada sometime in Sept. 2018:
I just celebrated a birthday myself on July 3rd (39, baby! Man, I’m gettin’ old), but all my posts from friends and family were along the lines of, “Happy birthday, Nadiya! ๐” That’s it. There was no denying that something happened between August and Jada. For the next year and some change, I didn’t hear anything else pertaining to Jada getting her groove back…until a few weeks ago.
In late June or early July, August did an interview with The Breakfast Club’s Angela Yee where he verbally confirmed that he and Jada indeed had a relationship, one in which Will apparently gave his blessing. Peep the snippet where he speaks on his affair with Jada in the video below:
After August spilled this tea, the news spread like wildfire. Twitter blew up, and YouTubers such as Lovelyti, Empressive and Funky Dineva all reported on the story. Before the dust settled, Jada announced that she would have a Red Table Talk session…with herself in the hot seat.
On Fri. Jul. 10, 2020, Jada aired her Red Table Talk episode with none other than Will interviewing her. Like August, Jada didn’t hold anything back. She confirmed that circa 2016, she and Will were having some marital problems, and she found comfort and solace in August (or as Jada put it, she and August had an “entanglement.” Will made her use the term “relationship”). The only thing Jada denied was that Will gave August his consent for the relationship to happen. The full Red Table Talk interview is below:
Social media had even more of a field day. That same Friday, everything from Will, Jada, August Alsina, to “entanglement” were trending. Even “Black Twitter” was trending, given the fact that Black Twitter had a conniption fit when Will said “Black Twitter done made [our marital issues] their business” during the interview. Will and Jada were still trending topics all day Saturday as well (July 11, 2020).
I’ve watched the entire interview twice and I have to give Jada her props. She stood in her shit ten toes down and admitted what happened. Many people are claiming that she’s trying to portray herself as a victim in all of this, but I didn’t see that. She admitted what she did. She confessed in her usual roundabout way, but she admitted it. According to her, she and August did their thing, she and Will reconciled, she broke it off with August and moved on.
Some people also accused Jada of taking advantage of August. I see both sides of the coin on this allegation. On one hand, it appears that August came to Jada when he was emotionally vulnerable and needed mental self-care. On the other hand, Jada may have been emotionally vulnerable herself, seeing as she and Will were separated. Although August is much younger than Jada, he was still of age when they hooked up, and Jada was not an authority figure that had any power over him to will him into a sexual liaison. Did Jada knowingly use August for her own purposes? That remains to be seen.
In past interviews, Jada has empathically stated that she and Will actually don’t have an open relationship, but there’s been other rumors going around that Will has another chickie on the side. I’m not 100% sure if that’s true or not, but the video below provides some pretty damning evidence:
My girl Lovelyti also did another live video where she provides some receipts on Will’s alleged infidelities. There’s even a rumor about Will and Duane Martin being more than just friends. Ehh…there’s nothing to really back that up at all. I believe that’s strictly just whispers.
What I do know about this situation is this: no marriage is perfect, least of all Will and Jada’s. Over the last 39 years I’ve learned there’s no such thing as couple goals. Do I condone cheating? No, but some couples can work through it. Do I condone Jada doin’ her thing with her son’s friend? I can’t say I do. At the very least, Jada admitted what she did and didn’t make it seem like August fabricated the whole thing. It’s arguable whether or not Will and Jada are staying together because they really love each other and want to make things work or because they don’t want to mess up their brand. I’m really hoping it’s the former and not the latter. All I know is that this incident just further proves that Will and Jada are human and the illusion of them having a flawless union was just that…an illusion.
Now if y’all will excuse me, I have to get in touch with a cute dude I met the other day so I can have my own entanglement.
—Written by Nadiya
So what do you think about the situation between Will, Jada and August? Do you think Jada took advantage of August, or did they both fulfill an emotional need for each other? Do you believe Will also has someone on the side, or is he a victim in all this? Are Will and Jada staying together just to keep up appearances or is it because they still genuinely want their marriage to work? Do you believe Jada accepted responsibility during her Red Table Talk session? Did the tweets posted this past weekend crack you up? Did you agree with Jada using the term “entanglement?” Let me know in the comments section!
Insights from a Southern Girl 
[…] already spoken on Jada Pinkett-Smith’s “entanglement” with August Alsina, but it turns out August still has plenty to say. A little over a week after Jada and Will’s […]
LikeLike
[…] (even Lovelyti mentioned this during her most recent livestream). For the last year and a half, Will’s been clowned by social media thanks to Jada’s past “entanglement” wit…. Every time I look up, there’s some type of meme or mention of their infamous Red Table Talk […]
LikeLike