During an episode of Jada Pinkett Smith’s “Red Table Talk” last week, the actress had on husband Will Smith to discuss an affair she had years ago with 27-year-old singer August Alsina.
According to the duo, they were going through a rough time and split up “amicably,” though still legally married. Pinkett Smith started a friendship with Alsina that turned into an “entanglement,” which the actress later classified as a “relationship” when pressed by Smith.
The “Bad Boys” actor was in the know about the affair, the couple discussed. “There’s never been secrets,” Pinkett Smith said.
However, Smith did not give “permission,” since, argued Pinkett Smith, “the only person who could give permission in this particular circumstance was myself.”
Smith agreed.
“It was a relationship,” Pinkett Smith admitted, adding, “I was in a lot of pain, and I was very broken.”
“I just wanted to feel good,” she explained. “And it was a real joy to help heal somebody.”
Pinkett Smith said she felt she was trying to heal her own childhood trauma but trying to fix others in need like Alsina.
Smith was visibly uncomfortable during portions of the “Red Table Talk” discussion, at one point comparing himself to a politician’s wife at a presser as the husband discloses his “transgressions,” a term Pinkett Smith objected to.
“I’m gonna get you back,” Smith joked during one awkward exchange.
“I think you’ve already done that,” Pinkett Smith said.
“Yea, probably true,” he answered, emphasizing that getting back at Pinkett Smith was important to him.
Smith also added that it was “a miracle” he talked to her after the affair.
The week before the discussion, Alsina told “The Breakfast Club” about the affair and Smith allegedly sanctioning the relations.
“I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation due to the transformation from their marriage to life partnership … he gave me his blessing,” Alsina told host Angela Yee, according to Page Six.
Alsina was apparently introduced to Pinkett Smith back in 2015 by her son Jaden.
“I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really deeply love and have a ton of love for her. I devoted myself to it, I gave my full self to it — so much so to the point that I can die right now and be okay with knowing that I truly gave myself to somebody,” the singer said of Pinkett Smith.
Pinkett Smith suggested Alsina “perceived” Smith’s knowledge of the affair and their non-legal separation as Smith’s “permission,” adding that the singer didn’t want to be viewed as a “home-wrecker.”
The famous couple has long been rumored to have an “open relationship,” according to The Huffington Post.
Back in 2015, Pinkett Smith told host Howard Stern that she is not her husband’s “watcher.”
“Here’s the deal with that, Howard, you’ve got to trust who you’re with. And at the end of the day, I’m not here to be anybody’s watcher,” she explained. “I’m not his watcher. He’s a grown man. Here’s what I trust – I trust that the man that Will is, is the man of integrity. So, he’s got all the freedom in the world. As long as Will can look himself in the mirror and be okay, I’m good.”
Pinkett Smith added that she understands Smith is attracted to other women.
“Here is what’s real – I’m not the kind of woman that believes a man is not going to be attracted to other women,” she told Stern. “I’m just not that girl. It’s just not realistic. And just because your man is attracted to another woman does not mean he doesn’t love you. That’s not what it means. And it doesn’t mean he’s going to act on it. If your man can’t really see another woman’s beauty, how the hell is he going to see yours?”
During the “Red Table Talk” discussion, Smith said it is “so critical” that he is able to “make mistakes” in their marriage “without the fear of losing your family.”
WATCH:
Jada Brings Herself to the Table
Jada and Will address the recent headlines and share their journey of finding peace through pain.
Posted by Red Table Talk on Friday, July 10, 2020