Will Smith Says Estranged Wife Jada Pinkett Smith Is His ‘Ride-or-Die’

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are still very close despite being secretly separated for over seven years. Jada first revealed their separation to Hoda Kotb last year while promoting her memoir, saying it happened because they were “exhausted with trying” to save their marriage.

The duo have not officially filed for divorce, and Jada also revealed to Kotb that she and Will now live separately and are still working out their marriage.

Will believes that Jada is one of his “ride-or-dies” despite their decision to separate over seven years ago.

At a screening of his new film, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” Will, during a chat with Entertainment Tonight, was asked to mention the names of the people in his life who would always be his “ride-or-die.”

In response, the “Men In Black” actor mentioned Jada, who’s the mother of two of his kids, Jaden Smith and Willow Smith.

He said, “It’s funny. I was just talking about this, I have always been blessed that there has never been a time in my life when I didn’t look to the side and have a ride-or-die right there. Jada is one of the most gangsta ride-or-dies I’ve ever had.”

However, Jada wasn’t the only name Will mentioned as one of his “ride-or-dies” in life. The “Pursuit of Happyness” star also mentioned his longtime friend DJ Jazzy Jeff and his “The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air” co-star, Alfonso Ribeiro, as two other people he can always count on.

In October last year, Jada revealed their separation during an interview on “The Today Show” with Hoda Kotb.

The “Red Table Talk” host explained to Kotb that she and Will had secretly decided to separate over seven years ago but had no plans to divorce formally.

Jada explained that she and Will decided to separate because they were “exhausted with trying” to improve their marriage.

She added at the time: “I think we were both still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.”

In her recently released memoir, “Worthy,” Jada extensively discussed her relationship with Will. The actress described their separation as a “divorce” but without the formality because they never filed any paperwork. She wrote, “It was not a divorce on paper. But it was a divorce.”

During the interview, Jada shared that she considered a legal divorce but didn’t do it because she and Will had promised never to get a divorce. However, when Kotb probed about their living arrangements with the separation, Jada admitted that they now live separately.

She noted during her talk with the journalist that they hadn’t made any permanent decisions on the future of their marriage.

She said, “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.” Jada further insisted that she and Will are taking the time to understand what works for their relationship.

Jada’s memoir contained so many bombshells about her marriage to Will that people wondered how the actor was dealing with the revelations.

However, Will only had words of praise for Jada’s book, even sharing a statement noting how proud he was of his wife.

“If I had read this book 30 years ago, I definitely would have hugged you more. I’ll start now. Welcome to the author’s club. I love you endlessly. Now go get some Merlot and take a rest,” the actor said in a letter to podcast host Jay Shetty, per E! News.

The “Emancipation” star also told the New York Times in an email that Jada’s bombshell revelations while promoting her book “kind of woke” him up to see the “hidden nuances” the actress possessed.

“When you’ve been with someone for more than half of your life, a sort of emotional blindness sets in, and you can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties,” the actor said.

Will also mentioned that he has now realized that the “Red Table Talk” host was more “resilient, clever, and compassionate than he’d understood.”