(Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision/AP, File)
Jada Pinkett Smith is getting honest about her past after admitting she had a past relationship with August Alsina while she and Will Smith were on a break.
Jada and Will opened up about the period in their lives on an emotional episode of her Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk, on Friday. During the episode, Jada and Will sat down with one another, and Jada acknowledged she had a past relationship with August that took place years ago.
Jada shared that she first met August more than four years ago and that the singer had initially come to her when he was “sick” and in need of some help, and that the Smith family had supported him. Jada said she ended up getting romantically involved with August when she and Will were separated.
“We were over,” Jada said of she and Will’s relationship at the time.
Will added, “I was done with your a**. … We decided we were going to separate for a period of time and you go figure out how to make yourself happy and I’ll figure out how to make myself happy.”
Jada said that during that time she got into an “entanglement” with August, but when Will inquired further, Jada acknowledged that it was, in fact, a “relationship.”
“Yes, it was a relationship, absolutely,” she shared, however, she pushed back against the notion that Will gave August “permission.”
“The only person that could give permission in that particular circumstance is myself,” she shared. “I just wanted to feel good, it had been so long since I felt good,” she continued about her relationship with August. “And it was really a joy to just help heal someone. I think that has a lot to do with my co-dependency.”
However, she realized in the end her relationship with August was not the type of fulfillment she was hoping for. “I definitely realized you can’t find happiness outside yourself,” she said.
Jada and Will stressed the fact that there have never been secrets in their marriage, and Jada said she didn’t consider what happened a “transgression” because she learned so much from it. She shared that August decided to cut off communication with her, which she completely understood, but she was surprised when his comments came out since they hadn’t spoken in a long time.
As for Will and Jada’s relationship, the pair said they continue to have “unconditional love” for one another. Will said, “We came together young and we were both broken in our own ways, and to be able to make mistakes without the fear of losing your family is so critical.”
“We ride together, we die together,” they said at the same time with a smile.