There is no denying that Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are one of Hollywood’s major “It” couples that continue to rule the headlines. While 2022 kickstarted the never-ending chatter around Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, there is another aspect of the couple’s seemingly peaceful marriage that continues to snag the spotlight — Pinkett’s short-lived but much-publicized “entanglement” with the “No Love” singer, August Alsina.
While it has been years since the revelation that the Matrix star had been in a relationship with the two-decades younger R&B singer in the past, Alsina is definitely not over it. In 2022, the artist released a new song whose lyrics seemingly alluded to his short-lived romance with Pinkett Smith. And as expected, this served to trigger renewed interest in the former couple’s story.
But it is not as if the questions their brief relationship continues to spark are ever in need of a fresh catalyst.
Jada Pinkett and August Alsina’s “entanglement”
Pinkett Smith and Alsina’s secret relationship came into the limelight back in 2020, when the singer appeared on the show The Breakfast Club to talk about his new album at the time. There is no denying that the most shocking portion of the chat was Alsina revealing to host Angela Yee that he had been in a relationship with Pinkett Smith “for years” after Will Smith allegedly gave him his “blessing” to continue it.
“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,” he shared. It was in 2015 that Jaden Smith introduced Alsina to his family which was followed by the singer even vacationing with the Smiths in Hawaii. According to Alsina, he became very close to the actress during that time and fell in love with her.
“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. And I really loved a person, I experienced that and I know what that feels like — and some people never get that in this lifetime.”
Post Alsina’s rather shocking revelation — as it was presumed that the Smiths were in a happy marriage when the singer dated the Gotham star — Page Six reached out to Pinkett Smith’s representatives, who were quick to respond that the story was “absolutely not true!!” This in turn prompted Alsina to defend his comments in an Instagram post.
“My truth is MY truth, & it’s mine to own,” he wrote. “There is no right or wrong here, it simply just IS. & I make room and have acceptance for your thoughts and opinions, regardless if I agree or not, you have that freedom to feel WHATEVER it is u feel because when you’re at TRUE peace, all of the noise and chatter becomes that of a whisper.”
Pinkett Smith openly admitted her relationship with Alsina
At the time, it seemed like the Bad Moms star would stick to her assertion that she never had anything to do with Alsina. But just days later, during an episode of her talk show, Red Table Talk, she and her husband Will Smith willingly addressed the speculations and confirmed that Pinkett Smith was indeed in a relationship with Alsina. The couple further clarified that it happened while they were separated for some time in 2015 as they were trying to figure out how to be happy on their own.
“I was done with your ass. I was done with you,” Will shared, admitting that at the time it seemed like their marriage was over. “Marriages have that though. We decided that we were going to separate for a period of time and you go figure out how to make yourself happy and I’ll try to figure out how to make myself happy. I really felt like we could be over,” he added.
Since they were not together, the actress entered into a relationship with Alsina — an “entanglement” to be precise.
“We were over. From there, as time went on, I got into a different kind of entanglement with August.”
While she did confirm that it was a relationship, she explained that it was born of the fact that she was “in a lot of pain” and “was very broken.” It eventually made her realize that “you can’t find happiness outside of yourself.”
For Alsina, the Smiths remain his “family”
While Pinkett Smith and Will Smith more or less confirmed Alsina’s statement, they denied that the King Richard star actually gave him “permission” to date his wife. But apparently, as Pinkett Smith explained, the singer presumably “would perceive it as permission because [she and Smith] were separated amicably.”
Soon after, Alsina also seconded Pinkett Smith’s usage of the term “entanglement” to describe their relationship in a chat with Vulture, wherein he explained that he indeed had a “complicated dynamic” with the actress. He also shared that ever since he publicly talked about his and Pinkett Smith’s relationship, he has not been in contact with her. But assured that it doesn’t mean that it has affected his relationship with the Smiths.
“I don’t have an issue with anybody. I love everybody. I love all of them/ They’ve been my family, and there’s a lot of history there. They’re beautiful people. They’re beautiful spirits. They really are. There’s no bad blood with anybody,” he explained. “They [the Smiths] got [the Angela Yee interview] way before the world ever saw it. It came from a loving place. There’s no bad love with anybody. I got love for everybody on this planet.”
While the Smiths have apparently moved on from this unexpected revelation and the subsequent headlines it made, not everyone is on the same page.
Alsina is not done talking — um, singing — about Pinkett Smith
While the world is still busy discussing Will Smith’s Oscars fiasco and its long-term repercussions, Alsina released a new song, titled “Shake the World” in April 2022 where he seemingly referred to his relationship with Pinkett Smith.
“Well, of course, some s**t is bound to go down when you tangled up with the world’s favorite,” sings the artist in the track.
This is not the first time Alsina has tinkered with Pinkett Smith’s usage of the word “entanglement” and alluded to their relationship. Back in September 2020, a few weeks after he made his past relationship with Pinkett Smith public knowledge, he released a new single titled “Entanglements,” whose lyrics go as follows — “The definition of ‘entanglement’ is when you tangle in the sheets” and “Girl, I know that we don’t call it a relationship, but you’re still f**king with me.”
While Alsina may or may not be over Pinkett Smith, the Hollywood couple has made it clear that they will not be getting involved in any extramarital affairs of any sort. During the SAG Awards 2022, the couple appeared on the red carpet and when questioned if they will be engaging in “more entanglements” in the future, Pinkett Smith shot it down by responding that there will be “no more of those.”
But seeing that Alsina seemingly has no qualms when it comes to flaunting his brief relationship with Pinkett Smith as well as the fact that The Suicide Squad star and his wife don’t bother to react to his implicit references, there will be no “last time” when people are reminded that he once dated the Emmy-winning talk show host.
