- The 52-year-old actress appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote her new book Worthy.
- “That’s still my man,” Jada said when Stephen asked if Will, 55, was her “ex-husband.” “I just call us life partners, but he’s my dude. He’s my right hand’
- Jada also said the Oscars incident, when Will punched comedian Chris Rock, 58, on national television really brought them closer together.
Jada Pinkett Smith called Will Smith her “life partner” on Monday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, despite recently revealing that they have been separated since 2016.
The 52-year-old actress appeared remotely on the CBS talk show after Stephen, 59, tested positive for COVID.
“Welcome back to 2020,” Stephen said while filming from his home. “Let’s do it all again.”
Stephen showed Jada’s new book called “Worthy” and asked her if she was surprised that she was getting so much attention.
“I knew it would get some attention,” Jada admitted.
“I’m surprised it’s getting so much attention, but you know, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there aren’t a lot of programs on television,” she added with a laugh.
“People are very interested in you and your family,” Stephen said. “People were very surprised to find out that you and your ex-husband are still husband or ex-husband?”
“That’s still my person,” Jada said. “I just call us life partners, but he’s my dude. He is my right hand.
Stephen said people were surprised when she revealed she and Will, 55, had been separated since 2016, and asked why she only recently decided to share the information with the public.
“I wasn’t ready,” Jada said. “Look, conscious uncoupling is a very difficult thing. Right? So, in the process of training, I had to solve a lot of problems so that it did not look like a public war. I didn’t want this for Will and me. So I really needed time to gather my strength.”
Jada said the incident at the 2022 Oscars, when Will punched comedian Chris Rock, 58, on national television actually brought them closer together.
“And in the process of my healing, I just realized, do I really want to get a divorce?” Do I really want to break up?,” Jada said. “And then the Oscar came.” And believe it or not, it’s crazy how intense events can bring people together. Because as soon as the Oscars happen, Will and I are closer.”
Stephen asked her how it happened.
“Before the Oscars, Will had just finished a very difficult film that I can’t say the name of, but he played a slave and a lot of things came to his mind and he asked if we could go back into some therapeutic spaces together.” – Jada said.
“And so we started doing some really deep work together, and when he was nominated, he said, ‘There’s no one I’d rather share this moment with than you,’ and I was really touched because it wasn’t guaranteed.” that I would go with him, and he asked, “Will you come with me?” she added.
Jada said she didn’t initially feel like she would go to the Oscars as Will’s wife.
“I didn’t necessarily go to the Oscars as Will’s wife, but when that event happened, I knew at that moment that I wasn’t going to leave him,” Jada said. “And at that moment I knew that I did not go to this theater as his wife, but I was leaving as his wife, and I would be by his side, no matter what. And then I realized: “I love this man.”
“I called it ‘Holy Joke,’ ‘Holy Slap,’ and ‘Holy Lessons,'” Jada said of the infamous Oscar slap.
“I had to learn not to take it all personally,” Jada said. “I learned so much about the shadow, my shadow, Will’s shadow, just everyone’s shadow.”
—Chris Rock’s shadow? – said Stephen. “Because I think Will beat it out of him.”
Jada laughed and continued that during this time she also learned about unconditional love.
She claimed the slap was the culmination of a years-long relationship between Will and Chris, but did not go into detail and said it was their story to tell.
“Knowing that we’re all here trying to figure out this thing called life, and seeing that kind of spiritual collision come up on stage, you know, years and years of things between Will and Chris that just came to a head,” she said.
Stephen asked her if she was part of the story and Jada replied, “Not really.”
Jada also shared that she has a hard time being vulnerable.
“I’ve really learned how to have a social life, and then you have life in the secret family sanctuary, and I’ve been very fortunate that with my family, we’ve been able to do some really, really deep work together as a family and really strengthen our bonds in those vulnerable and tender places. And really being able to connect in such powerful ways,” Jada said.
Jada said the children taught her a lot.
“Willow has a way of expressing herself emotionally in ways that were foreign to me,” Jada said, referring to her 22-year-old daughter. “She really knows how to feel her feelings and not apologize for it.”
Jada said she has always struggled with portraying vulnerability as an actress.
“That’s why I always choose strong characters so I don’t have to play vulnerable,” Jada laughs.