Will Smith said he felt ‘tortured’ over Jada Pinkett Smith’s romance with late rapper Tupac Shakur, having spoken out about how their relationship impacted him in his memoir.
The pair tied the knot back in 1997, and share two children – Jaden and Willow – with Will also having a son from a previous relationship, 30-year-old Trey.
However, in a new interview with People, Jada revealed that she and Will have actually been secretly separated for six years.
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"We’re still figuring it out," Jada explained.
"We’ve been doing some really heavy-duty work together. We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us."
While Will has not yet spoken publicly about their separation, he has previously admitted to feeling ‘tortured’ by one of Jada’s past high profile friendships with Tupac.
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They were never officially linked, but once shared a kiss before realising their bond was more platonic.
“When you have two young people who have very strong feelings but there is no physical chemistry between us at all,” she once explained to Howard Stern.
“And it wasn’t even just for me. It was him too.”
She added: “There was a time when I was like, just kiss me…let’s just see how this goes. And when I tell you it had to be the most disgusting kiss for us both.”
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But while the friendship never blossomed into something fully romantic, it still lingered on Will’s mind when he eventually got with Jada.
In his memoir, Will, he wrote: “In the beginning of our relationship, my mind was tortured by their connection. He was ‘PAC! and I was me … though they were never intimate, their love for each other is legendary.”
He said he couldn’t help but feel jealous of the rapper’s ‘fearless passion’ and ‘militant morality’, saying that he compared the situation to the time he couldn't stand up to his violent father.
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Comparing Tupac to his brother Harry – who did confront their dad – Will continued: “[He] triggered the perception of myself as a coward. … I hated that I wasn’t what he was in the world, and I suffered a raging jealousy: I wanted Jada to look at me like that.”
The actor said if Jada ‘chose’ him over Tupac’, there was ‘no way’ he could ‘be a coward’, adding: “I have rarely felt more validated. I was in a room with Tupac on multiple occasions, but I never spoke to him.
"The way Jada loved ‘Pac rendered me incapable of being friends with him. I was too immature."
Topics: Celebrity, Will Smith
Jess Hardiman