Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith separated for seven years amid marriage difficulties

Content warning: this article contains references to suicide.

Last year, Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that she had been separated from her husband Will Smith for seven years - though the two have made joint red carpet appearances this year.

Fellow actors Jada and Will tied the knot in 1997 after meeting him on the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1994.

The couple share two children, Jaden and Willow Smith.

Jada, one of the hosts of controversial talkshow Red Table Talk, revealed in a October 2023 interview with PEOPLE that she and Will were separated at the time - as well as a battle with mental health.

She said: "When I turned 40, I was in so much pain. I couldn’t figure a way out besides death. So I made a plan."

Jada acknowledged the way her life must have presented to others, stating: "I was really living the dream, I hit a huge wall — a massive amount of depression.

"I think that I looked at having outside sources to supplement for the voids that I was feeling inside."

She later went on to admit that at the time of the infamous Oscars slap - which saw Will slap comedian Chris Rock onstage after he made a joke about Jada - she had been separated from her husband for six years.

At the time of the interview, Jada added: "We’re still figuring it out. 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."

The couple tied the knot in 1997 (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

In another interview that same year with Hoda Kotb on The Today Show, Jada said that while she and Will had been living separate lives, they had no intention of legally divorcing - but it was 'technically divorce' as they were no longer 'romantically together.'

Jada explained: "I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.”

Earlier this year, in May, Will called Jada his 'ride or die.'

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Will said: "I have always been blessed that there has never been a time in my life when I didn't look to the side and have a ride or die right there.

"Jada is one of the most gangsta ride-or-dies I've ever had."

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