Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are used to one thing: Their marriage is nearly constantly under scrutiny. For celebrities, the pair have been remarkably open about a lot of their ups and downs. Jada and Will recently admitted that she had a relationship with singer August Alsina while she and Will were separated, and a lot of the subsequent conversation has centered on the idea that Jada violated her marriage with Will by doing so.
Here's the thing: Jada and Will are two consenting adults, and they both have stated that they truly believed there was absolutely no way they were getting back together following their separation. Jada was at total liberty to have a relationship with anyone she wanted to.
While a lot of the attention has been focused on Jada and what she did and didn't do with August, there haven't been that many people wondering what Will was up to during the pair's separation. It's reasonable to assume that, since he also believed the marriage was completely finished, he was dating people, too. On top of that, the couple have been dogged with persistent rumors that Will has cheated throughout their marriage … and some of those rumors have a little bit of weight.
As a reminder, here's what Jada said happened with August, in a conversation with Will on her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk:
"Four and a half years ago … I started a friendship with August and we actually became really, really good friends. And it all started with him just needing some help, me wanting to help his health, his mental state. The outpouring for him from our family was initially about his health. We found all those different resources to help pull him through and from there you and I were going through a very difficult time."
At this point, Will interjected, "I was done with you."
Jada dodged Will's implication that the separation was purely his decision, noting that, "We broke up. We decided that we were going to separate for a period of time." Jada then added, "From there as time went on I got into a different kind of entanglement with August. One thing I want to clean up … about you giving 'permission' which is … the only person that can give permission in that circumstance is myself."
Many accepted Jada's explanation, but the commentary and memes that followed definitely painted her as the bad guy in the relationship. And while the fact that she entered into a romantic relationship with a much younger man who was clearly processing some trauma might be questionable, the fact that she was separated and believed she was well on her way to divorce means that being in the relationship itself was OK.
One thing that is missing in a huge way from the discussion is any mention of what Will was up to during this time. While it could be assumed that he didn't date at all, it seems unlikely. Will is an enormously popular superstar who has a lot of innate charisma. It's hard to believe he wasn't out there also, getting back into the game.
When the video of Jada and Will hit the internet, some people believed that Will also indicated he'd had his own relationship during the separation. Many believe that he and his former costar Margot Robbie had a relationship as well. The two have starred in two films together: 2015's Focus and 2016's Suicide Squad. The entire cast of Suicide Squad returned to film the sequel … except for Will Smith.
In the Red Table Talk conversation, Will Smith doesn't directly say he was involved with someone else, but he does note that he felt like he had to "get [her] back, first" before he and Jada could reunite.
Jada laughs and says, "I think you've gotten me back. I think we're good on that."
One person went so far as to put the theory out on Twitter, writing, "I think Will Smith probably didn't come back as Deadshot for the Suicide Squad sequel because he got into an… entanglement with Margot back in 2014-2015 and she's married now. The scheduling conflicts excuse always felt off to me, lol."
Margot also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and played his game "Loaded Questions." After seeing the question she was being asked, she laughed and said she couldn't reveal the question … but said, "I can tell you the answer, though, and the answer is Will Smith. I cannot tell you the question, though, I'm afraid." When asked if the question was about Suicide Squad, Margot would neither confirm nor deny but simply said that there were "layers of complexity there."
Margot and her husband got married in 2016, after meeting in 2013. That could seem to throw off the timeline of a relationship with Will, except Margot has noted that she and her husband "were friends for so long" before getting married. It's plausible that Will and Margot had a brief relationship while filming sometime between 2013 and 2014, which is also two to three years before Will and Jada's separation.
Will and Jada have definitely been open about the troubles their marriage has faced. In the interview about Jada's relationship with August, Will recalls, "I remember the day I said to Jada, 'I retire. I retire from trying to make you happy. I need you to go make yourself happy and just prove to me it's even possible.'"
In 2011, there were also rumors that Will was seen with a blond woman in South Beach.
A source reportedly said, "He was fascinated by the woman. Several times I saw him put his hand on her arm. He was paying little attention to other people at the table. Then when they left and were waiting for their cars, he was shadowboxing and clowning around for her — and she was totally into him!"
While the couple has definitely not confirmed or denied any rumors about Will, Jada has previously spoken about infidelity in marriage on her show. In an episode featuring therapist and author Esther Perel, Jada said, "Everybody thinks that as soon as you find out there's an affair you got to get a divorce."
Esther agreed. "I am not of that persuasion because I think that there are many relational betrayals — contempt and neglect and violence and indifference, and nobody tells people, 'Leave, leave, get the hll out, get the hll out.' And especially on women, it's the real new pressure. God forbid you still would love the person who actually cheated on you. Maybe that person is a lot of things and cheated on you."
Jada replied, "I so relate to that because I'm asked a lot about, 'Is there infidelity in your relationship with Will?' And it's like, ‘No,' but there have been other betrayals of the heart that have been far bigger than I could even think in regards to an infidelity situation."
