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“Chris Rock Was Slapped For Nothing”: Fans React To Jada Pinkett And Will Smith’s Separation
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“Chris Rock Was Slapped For Nothing”: Fans React To Jada Pinkett And Will Smith’s Separation

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Some couples in Hollywood have made a name for themselves as the quintessential famous pair, to the point where it has become hard to picture one without the other.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were amongst those couples, marrying in 1997 and welcoming two children with successful careers of their own: Jaden and Willow Smith.

Just like many other famous couples, after tying the knot on New Year’s Eve, in Baltimore, Maryland, their relationship became the subject of cheating and divorce rumors, amongst other scandals.

While promoting her new memoir, Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that she and Will Smith have been separated since 2016

Image credits: jadapinkettsmith

Nevertheless, as it turns out, “keeping Jada’s name out of our mouth” will now become impossible as news of their relationship has gripped the internet in the past 24 hours.

Indeed, it was just revealed that the power couple have been in fact separated for the past seven years.

As a result of previous divorce rumors, Jada confessed Chris Rock had asked her out

Image credits: chrisrock

But the actors’ commitment to each other has consistently defied negative speculations, with Will confirming once and for all where his heart stood at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony, where he infamously slapped Chris Rock for making fun of Jada’s buzzcut.

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Will infamously slapped Chris at the 2022 Oscars, after the comedian made a joke about Jada’s hair

Image credits: Neilson Barnard / Getty Images

The Red Table Talk presenter made the surprising revelation in her new memoir, Worthy, which will be published later this week (October 17).

Jada echoed this announcement in a few interviews whilst promoting her book, and confessed that she and her husband had been leading separate lives since 2016.

 “Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce,” Jada said in a recent interview

Image credits: chrisrock

The 52-year-old also admitted that she was separated from Will when he had whacked Chris at the Oscars last year.

Additionally, Jada confirmed that she and the 55-year-old father to her children have been pretending to be a committed married couple for quite some time, keeping up with the charade at public events, and denying any questions asking whether they had separated.

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Jada and Will married in 1997; they share two children, Willow and Jaden, whilst Will also shares a first son with ex Sheree Zampino

Image credits: jadapinkettsmith

Will and Jada’s relationship has been at the forefront of some negative headlines before when the Queen Cleopatra executive revealed that she had had an “entanglement” with a family friend, 31-year-old singer August Alsina.

All and all, divorce seems to be out of the question for the unconventional married couple, as Jada has reportedly been saying she’s been committed to “working through anything.”

Jada was diagnosed with alopecia, which is why she has been sporting a buzz cut

Image credits: jadapinkettsmith

However, Chris, who at one point believed rumors Jade and Will were getting divorced, reportedly asked Jada out.

The actress told People: “I think every summer all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce.

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Will and Jada have pretended to be a “regular” married couple despite living separate lives

Image credits: jadapinkettsmith

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“And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce.

“So he called me and basically he was like, ‘I’d love to take you out.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’

“Keep my wife’s name out of your f-ing mouth”, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air infamously said at the Oscars last year

Image credits: willsmith

“He was like, ‘Well, aren’t you and Will getting a divorce?’

“I was like, ‘No. Chris, those are just rumors.’ He was appalled. And he profusely apologized and that was that.”

After the incident, Will issued an apology to Chris and was banned from participating in Academy Awards for the next 10 years

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Image credits: willsmith

Naturally, this occurrence happened before the outrageous 2022 Oscar, where the comedian met Will’s hand after cracking a G.I. Jane joke about Jada’s bald head amidst her alopecia diagnosis.

Ms. Smith also reflected on the shocking events and said that when Will hit Chris, she initially didn’t even think it was real.

Meanwhile, Jada has said she and Will had no plans of divorcing any time soon

Image credits: jadapinkettsmith

Jada explained: “I thought, ‘This is a skit.’ … I was like, ‘There’s no way that Will hit him.’

“It wasn’t until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realized it wasn’t a skit.”

Jada admitted that she first thought Will’s slap was a skit

Image credits: willsmith

The producer went on to unveil that when she was alone with the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air actor, she had checked on him to see if he was okay.

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Jada also confessed that she had been “unclear on the reason why Will is so upset,” as they had been secretly separated since 2016.

“Our marriage wasn’t working,” Smith wrote in his 2021 memoir “Will”

Image credits: natgeotv

She said: “We had been living separate lives and were there as family, not as husband and wife.

“But when I hear Will yell ‘wife’ in the chaos of the moment, an internal shift of ‘Oh sh*t…I am his wife!’ happens instantly.”

These startling revelations have prompted X (formerly known as Twitter) users to share their brutally honest take on the whole messy situation, with some fans saying Will slapped Chris “for nothing”.

“So he smacked Chris over that joke and they weren’t even together,” a person wrote:

You can watch the interview in full below

Image credits: TODAY

Another X user commented: “So the slap was for nothing.”

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A separate individual chimed in: “‘Keep my wife’s name out your mouth’ um… something ain’t adding up.”

Many people weighed in on Will and Jada’s messy and public relationship

Image credits: _johnsonator

Image credits: LoloEtny

Image credits: ninalasnina

Image credits: blixberrie

Image credits: mrcpitts

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Andréa Oldereide

Andréa Oldereide

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

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Andréa Oldereide

Andréa Oldereide

Writer, BoredPanda staff

I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

Ilona Baliūnaitė

Ilona Baliūnaitė

Author, BoredPanda staff

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I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda since 2017. I've searched through a multitude of images to create over 2000 diverse posts on a wide range of topics. I love memes, funny, and cute stuff, but I'm also into social issues topics. Despite my background in communication, my heart belongs to visual media, especially photography. When I'm not at my desk, you're likely to find me in the streets with my camera, checking out cool exhibitions, watching a movie at the cinema or just chilling with a coffee in a cozy place

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Ilona Baliūnaitė

Ilona Baliūnaitė

Author, BoredPanda staff

I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda since 2017. I've searched through a multitude of images to create over 2000 diverse posts on a wide range of topics. I love memes, funny, and cute stuff, but I'm also into social issues topics. Despite my background in communication, my heart belongs to visual media, especially photography. When I'm not at my desk, you're likely to find me in the streets with my camera, checking out cool exhibitions, watching a movie at the cinema or just chilling with a coffee in a cozy place

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Negatoris Wrecks
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is she ever NOT obsessing over her PR? I'm tired of her. She's like an ab-fab character.

WonderWoman
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jada is desperate to be the center of attention. She is a horrible human-being and she knows it.

Alex Martin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they're separated since 2016 why drag him on to her pathetic talkshow show and cuckold him in front of everyone? She forced him to sit there and be okay with turns out to be not infidelity. That's manipulation and emotional abuse. That man must be raging inside when it comes to this relationship. I'm not surprised he slapped Chris Rock. Will Smith had to protect his abuser.

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Negatoris Wrecks
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is she ever NOT obsessing over her PR? I'm tired of her. She's like an ab-fab character.

WonderWoman
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jada is desperate to be the center of attention. She is a horrible human-being and she knows it.

Alex Martin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they're separated since 2016 why drag him on to her pathetic talkshow show and cuckold him in front of everyone? She forced him to sit there and be okay with turns out to be not infidelity. That's manipulation and emotional abuse. That man must be raging inside when it comes to this relationship. I'm not surprised he slapped Chris Rock. Will Smith had to protect his abuser.

Load More Comments
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