Netizens see Will Smith-Chris Rock Oscars slap incident in new light after Jada Pinkett reveals separation

Actor Jada Pinkett Smith has been separated from husband Will Smith since 2016 -- six years before the infamous "Oscars Slap" -- she revealed in an interview that aired Wednesday. The Hollywood power couple's marriage came under intense spotlight at last year's Academy Awards, when Smith struck comedian Chris Rock on stage for making a joke about his wife.

But the pair had already been living "totally separate lives" for years before the notorious incident, Pinkett Smith told NBC News. "By the time we got to 2016 we were just exhausted with trying," she said, in an advance clip from an interview to promote her new memoir, "Worthy." Rumors of affairs and an open marriage were repeatedly denied by the couple for many years.

But in 2020, Pinkett Smith openly discussed an extramarital "entanglement" she had with singer August Alsina some years earlier, during a period of separation from her husband. According to Wednesday's snippet, that separation has endured up until the present day, although the pair remain legally married.