Jada Pinkett Smith called Will Smith her “life partner” on Monday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, despite recently revealing that they have been divorced since 2016.
The 52-year-old actress appeared remotely on the CBS talk show after 59-year-old Stephen tested positive for COVID.
“Welcome back to 2020,” Stephen said as he filmed from his home. “Let’s do it all again.”
Stephen held up Jada’s new book Worthy and asked her if she was surprised it was getting so much attention.
“I knew it would get some attention,” Jada admitted.
Complicated relationship: Jada Pinkett Smith called Will Smith her ‘life partner’ on Monday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, despite recently revealing they have been divorced since 2016
“I’m surprised it’s getting so much attention, but you know, I think it all has to do with the fact that there aren’t many shows on TV,” she added with a giggle.
“People are very interested in you and your family,” Stephen said. “People were really surprised to find out that you and your former spouse are still a spouse or a former spouse?”
“That’s still my husband,” Jada said. “I just call us life partners, but he’s my guy. He is my right hand.’
Stephen said people were surprised when she revealed she and Will, 55, had been separated since 2016, and asked why she only recently decided to share that information with the public.
“I wasn’t ready yet,” Jada said. ‘Listen, consciously uncoupling is very difficult. Right? And so in this process of learning how to fix a lot of things so that it didn’t look like a war in public. I didn’t want that for Will and me. And so I really needed time to come to terms with myself.’
Jada said the incident at the 2022 Oscars, when Will punched comedian Chris Rock, 58, on national television, actually brought them closer.
“And during that process of my healing, I just realized, do I really want a divorce? Do I really want to be divorced?,” Jada said. ‘And then came the Oscars. And believe it or not, it’s crazy how intense events can bring people together. Because Will and I became closer after the Oscars.”
Stephen asked her how that happened.
Hollywood stars: The 52-year-old actress and Will, seen in March 2022 in Beverly Hills, California, married in 1997 and have been divorced since 2016
Making headlines: Stephen held up Jada’s new book titled Worthy and asked her if she was surprised it was getting so much attention
Infamous punch: Will punches Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in March 2022 in Los Angeles
At home: Jada appeared remotely on the CBS talk show after host Stephen tested positive for COVID
“Before the Oscars, Will had just finished a very difficult film that I can’t mention, but he was playing a slave, and he had a lot of things coming his way, and he asked if we could get back together in some therapeutic spaces, Jada said.
“And so we started doing some really deep work together, and when he was nominated, he said, ‘There’s no one I’d rather share this moment with than you,’ and I was really moved because it wasn’t something I could guarantee that I was going to go with him and he said, ‘Do you want to come with me?'” she added.
Jada initially said she didn’t feel like she would go to the Oscars as Will’s wife.
“I didn’t necessarily go to the Oscars as Will’s wife, but when the event happened, I knew in that moment that I wasn’t going to leave his side,” Jada said. “And I knew in that moment that I wasn’t going into that theater as his wife, but I was leaving as his wife, and that I would be by his side no matter what. And then I knew: ‘I love this man’.”
“I called it the holy joke, the holy clap and the holy lessons,” Jada said of the infamous Oscars clap.
“I had to learn not to make it personal,” Jada said. “I learned so much about shadows, my shadow, Will’s shadow, just everyone’s shadow.”
“Chris Rock’s shadow?” said Stephen. “Because I think Will beat it right out of him.”
Jada laughed and continued that she also learned about unconditional love during that time.
She claimed the blow was the result of years of feuding between Will and Chris, but did not elaborate, saying it was their story to tell.
“Learning that we’re all here to figure out this thing called life and see how there was such a thing, this spiritual collision on stage, you know years and years of things between Will and Chris that just came to a head,” said she. said.
Stephen asked her if she was part of that story and Jada said, “Actually, not.”
Jada also shared that it was hard for her to be vulnerable.
“I really learned how to live your public life and then you have your inner family sanctuary life, and I’ve been very fortunate that with my family we’ve been able to work very, very deeply together as a family and really strengthen our bonds on those places of vulnerability and tenderness. And really being able to connect in such powerful ways,” Jada said.
Showing support: “I didn’t necessarily go to the Oscars as Will’s wife, but when the event happened, I knew in that moment that I wasn’t going to leave his side,” Jada said. “And I knew in that moment that I wasn’t going into that theater as his wife, but I was leaving as his wife, and that I would be by his side no matter what. And then I knew: ‘I love this man’
Jada said her children have taught her so much.
“Willow has a way of being emotionally expressive in ways that were foreign to me,” Jada said, referring to her 22-year-old daughter. “She really has a way of feeling her feelings and being very unapologetic about it.”
Jada said it had always been difficult for her to portray vulnerability as an actress.
“That’s why I always choose strong characters, so I don’t have to play vulnerable,” Jada said, laughing.