Will Smith relaxes at sea in first post since Jada Pinkett Smith revealed they’ve been separated seven years: ‘Notifications off’
Will Smith enjoyed a trip to the seaside on Sunday as he took to Instagram for the first time since estranged wife Jada Pinkett Smith revealed they had been separated for seven years.
The 55-year-old star was spotted riding a boat days after his wife of 25 years, 52, spoke publicly about their estrangement; and he followed up on Sunday with his own comments on the situation.
The Oscar-winning actor was seen sleeping in the cabin of the boat, with a voice saying: ‘Fun fact about me – I can take a nap almost anywhere,’ to the sound of multiple phone notifications going off at once .
The Philadelphia native – who captioned the post, ‘Notifications Off’ – was then seen smiling on the deck of the boat as the vessel buzzed along the sea.
In the clip, Smith was dressed in a puffy black coat with black athletic pants and white and brown Nike sneakers.
The latest: Will Smith, 55, enjoyed a trip to the seaside on Sunday as he took to Instagram for the first time since estranged wife Jada Pinkett Smith, 52, revealed they had been separated for seven years
The star was spotted on a boat days after his wife of 25 years, 52, spoke publicly about their estrangement
Smith, in an email published Saturday in the New York Timessaid that Pinkett Smith’s recent comments about their relationship were a wake-up call for him, adding that she was more ‘resilient, smart and compassionate’ than he realized.
The King Richard star told the paper in an email: ‘When you’ve been with someone for more than half your life, a kind of emotional blindness sets in.
“And you can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties.”
Pinkett Smith, whose memoir won Tuesday’s title Worthy, told the Today show’s Hoda Kotb last week that her marriage to Smith hit a crossroads seven years ago.
“I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just tired of trying,” Pinkett Smith said on the broadcast. “I think we were both pretty stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.”
She continued: ‘I made a promise that there would never be a reason for us to divorce. We will work through whatever. And I just couldn’t break that promise.’
Smith is more than a year and a half removed from his infamous incident at the 2022 Oscars in which he slapped comedian Chris Rock after he joked about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, saying: ‘Jada, I love for you, GI Jane 2 , can’t wait to see it!’
The reference was to the 1997 movie that featured Demi Moore with a shaved head. (Pinkett Smith diagnosed alopecia, which causes hair loss.)
The Philadelphia native – who captioned the post, ‘Notifications Off’ – was then seen smiling on the deck of the boat as the vessel buzzed along the sea
In the clip, Smith was dressed in a puffy black coat with black athletic pants and white and brown Nike sneakers
The veteran entertainer appeared to be in good spirits as the vessel he was on buzzed along
Pinkett Smith told the Today show’s Hoda Kotb last week that her marriage to Smith hit a crossroads seven years ago.
Smith is nearly a year and a half removed from his infamous 2022 Oscars slap of Chris Rock. The two were spotted at the ceremony in LA on March 27, 2022
Smith made international headlines for his outburst towards the comedian at the event at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California
The Oscars exchange between Smith and Rock took place after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head
Smith subsequently apologized for the incident on several occasions, and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before being issued a 10-year ban from the Oscars.
Smith apologized to the Academy and other nominees in his acceptance speech, but made no reference to Rock
Smith was spotted celebrating at the Vanity Fair Oscar party after the show
Smith then walked onto the stage and punched Rock, then returned to his seat and yelled at him twice: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!’ to a stunned audience.
Later that night — in his acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as tennis patriarch Richard Williams in King Richard — Smith apologized to the Academy and other nominees, but made no reference to Rock.
Smith subsequently apologized for the incident on several occasions, and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before being issued a 10-year ban from the Oscars.
In an apology he issued about the incident in an online clip in July 2022, Smith said his spouse had “nothing to do with” his attack on Rock.
“I made a choice on my own from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,” he said. “I want to say sorry to my children and my family for the heat I brought on all of us.”
He added: ‘I reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he is not ready to talk and when he is he will reach out. So I will tell you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.’