A timeline of Jada Pinkett Smith's 'entanglement' with August Alsina, and what Will Smith has said about it

Jada Pinkett Smith married Will Smith in 1997 and they have two children together, Willow and Jaden.

In July 2015, Pinkett Smith supported Jaden and Willow at London's Wireless Festival as the siblings had a joint set together at the music event.

On a 2018 episode of "Red Table Talk," Pinkett Smith said that she met singer August Alsina for the first time during her children's set and described him as a "dear family friend."

After years of speculation, Smith responded to rumors that he and Pinkett Smith were close to a divorce.

In a Facebook post, he wrote: "Under normal circumstances, I don't usually respond to foolishness. (Because it's contagious) But, so many people have extended me their 'deepest condolences' that I figured - 'What the hell... I can be foolish, too!'"

He continued: "So, in the interest of redundant, repetitious, over & over-again-ness... Jada and I are… NOT GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! : -) I promise you all - if I ever decide to divorce my Queen - I SWEAR I'll tell you myself! #Dumb People Should Have to Wear Scarlet D's"

Pinkett Smith tweeted in response to Smith's post: "My king has spoken."

At some point in 2016, Pinkett Smith and Smith did separate, according to Pinkett Smith's recent interviews.

In October, Pinkett Smith said that she and Smith separated in 2016.

"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," she said in an interview with Hoda Kotb that aired on NBC.

Pinkett Smith said that while the couple live separately, they have no plans to get legally divorced.

"I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce," she said. "We will work through whatever. And I just haven't been able to break that promise."

In May 2017, Alsina was interviewed by Pinkett Smith about his liver autoimmune disorder. He shared the video interview in two Instagram posts that have since been removed.

Per Billboard, Alsina said in the caption of the first video: "I'm sicker than ever & having a hard time accepting what I feel & what the Doctors are saying is most true. After sitting down and talking with my fathers mother and sister.. They explained to me that sickness & illness runs in my family."

Alsina added: "My father & grandfather both died of severe illness. But they were FIGHTERS & that's all that matters. Just ride with me is all I ask."

A year later, Pinkett Smith started her Facebook Watch talk show called "Red Table Talk."

Alsina appeared on the 10th episode of season one, where he was introduced as a family friend.

On the episode, they discussed addiction and substance abuse. At the time, Alsina was at the beginning of his sober journey.

Alsina and Pinkett Smith said that when they first met, the singer was addicted to Percocet but didn't think he was an addict.

Alsina said he realized he had to get clean after a call from Pinkett Smith in which she broke down.

"That was the thing. To feel your emotion and hear you bawling, that was really a reality check for me because I was like, 'Wow. If someone else can love you that much that it hurts them, why doesn't it bother you that you're actually hurting yourself?'" Alsina said. "That moment really changed the directory of my life just to start walking away from it."

On a two-part episode of "Red Table Talk," Pinkett Smith and Smith spoke about their marriage. 

They recalled a major fight they had in 2011 after Pinkett Smith's 40th birthday party — a story that Smith also discussed in his 2021 memoir, "Will."

Smith had planned the party and even commissioned a "Finding Your Roots"-style documentary about his wife's lineage, which he premiered at the party.

However, according to Smith, when they got back to their hotel after the party, Pinkett Smith said she wasn't happy.

"That was the most disgusting display of ego I have ever seen in my life," Smith recalled her saying.

"This night was unlike any before, or since. The pressure cooker of our perfect picture was cracking," Smith wrote in his memoir. "Our marriage wasn't working. We could no longer pretend. We were both miserable and clearly, something had to change."

Following their fight, the couple decided to work on their problems separately. 

"We agreed that Jada's happiness had to be her responsibility and my happiness had to be my responsibility. We were going to seek our distinct, innermost personal joys, and then we were going to return and present ourselves to the relationship and to each other already happy — not coming to each other begging with empty cups, demanding the other person fulfill our needs," Smith wrote. 

"Neither of us wanted a divorce; we knew we loved each other, and some aspects of our union were magical. But the structure of the life that we had established was strangling both of us," he continued.

In March 2019, following speculation that Pinkett Smith and Alsina were romantically involved, Alsina released the music video for a track called "Nunya," which is about a relationship that has fallen apart.

The animated video depicts a text message conversation between Alsina and a person named Koren.

Koren is Pinkett Smith's middle name — but that isn't the only connection.

At one point in the video, a GIF of Pinkett Smith appears on screen as Alsina sings: "You got me feeling like it was an act / You're just an actress putting on a show 'cause you don't want the world to know."

Over a year later, Alsina was asked about the "Nunya" video and his relationship with Pinkett Smith in an interview with "The Breakfast Club" cohost Angela Yee.

Alsina said that he did have a relationship with Pinkett Smith and said he spoke to Smith beforehand to get his blessing.

"I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation due to the transformation from their marriage to life partnership that they've spoken on several times and it not involving romanticism," the singer said. "He gave me his blessing, and I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really deeply loved and have a ton of love for her."

Alsina continued: "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."

Pinkett Smith's representatives denied the story when asked for a comment by Page Six at the time.

A few days later, Alsina posted a picture of him and Yee on Instagram alongside a caption that appeared to address the scandal.

"My truth is MY truth, & its mine to own. 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," the singer wrote.

Alsina continued: "My heart has no malice or hate toward anyone on this planet. I just simply want the chains off & I'm willing to DIE getting there. The gift of freedom is yours to have, God promises us that, but only if you're willing."

A few days after the initial denial, Pinkett Smith announced that she planned to discuss her rumored relationship with Alsina on "Red Table Talk."

"There's some healing that needs to happen…so I'm bringing myself to The Red Table," she wrote on July 2, 2020.

On the July 10 episode of "Red Table Talk," which featured just her and Smith, Pinkett Smith confirmed that she did have a relationship with Alsina, but said it occurred while she and Smith were separated.

Pinkett Smith said the "entanglement" began approximately four years earlier, and that she didn't believe the relationship was a transgression. 

"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 figure out how to make myself happy," Smith recalled. "I really felt like we could be over."

Pinkett Smith added: "We were over."

Pinkett Smith also explained why she pursued the relationship.

"I just wanted to feel good. It had been so long since I felt good. And it was really a joy to just help heal somebody. I think that has a lot to do with my codependency," she said.

The "Girls Trip" star said Alsina eventually stopped communicating with her when she started to reconnect with Smith. She said that she and Alsina were no longer on speaking terms.

A week after the episode aired, Vulture interviewed Alsina, and he explained how the rumors about him and Pinkett Smith had impacted him.

"People looked at me as this problematic guy who was super reckless, like I'm pushing up on someone's wife. I didn't really like that. I didn't like the sound of that, especially when it wasn't the truth. I think because people didn't have the truth, it allowed them to view me and my character a certain type of way," the singer said. 

Alsina added: "And that started to really eat at my soul, but deeper than that, it started to fuck with my partnerships and business relationships and money because of people seeing me as this reckless guy who's, like, publicly announcing his love and pushing up on somebody's wife, quote, unquote." 

Following Pinkett Smith's revelation, rapper 50 Cent reached out to Smith to offer his support through direct messages on Instagram.

50 shared a screenshot of the exchange on his Instagram page, but the post has since been deleted.

According to Entertainment Tonight, 50 wrote: "Yo Will you alright over there?"

"Yes I'm cool, I appreciate your concern my brother," Smith replied.

50 Cent went on to criticize Jada's actions, asking: "But why she tell you that shit on a show for everybody to see?" 

"We broke up so she did her and I did me," Smith responded. 

50 Cent then wrote: "Then she said only SHE can give permission for somebody to blow her back out." 

This irritated Smith, who simply responded: "Fuck you 50."

A week after Pinkett Smith came clean on "Red Table Talk," Alsina released a song called "Entanglements" featuring Rick Ross.

The song contains lyrics that allude to Pinkett Smith, including:

Shawty leanin' on my shoulder, got her questionin' my willpower
Jaded by her beauty, but her reputation real solid
Mornin' down the hallway, I can tell you how I feel about it
Caught up in the Matrix, and I doubt if I can get up out it (come on, come on, huh)

Alsina also sings: "You left your man to fuck with me, just to pay him back / Don't you know that's cold-hearted?"

"There were significant endless discussions about, what is relational perfection?" Smith said in an interview with GQ."What is the perfect way to interact as a couple?" Smith continued. "And for the large part of our relationship, monogamy was what we chose, not thinking of monogamy as the only relational perfection."

Although their relationship wasn't always monogamous, Smith told Gayle King in an appearance on "CBS News Sunday Morning" that there wasn't any infidelity in his marriage to Pinkett Smith.

"There's never been infidelity in our marriage. Jada and I talk about everything. And we have never surprised one another with anything, ever," he said.

When asked about how he feels about their marriage being the source of so much gossip, Smith said that he doesn't feel negatively about it.

"I have decided that chatter about my life can be of a benefit to people. I think that chatter is the first stage to having a real conversation, and being able to truly explore if some of the things in your heart are loving, or poisonous," the actor said.

Two years after Alsina opened up about his relationship with Pinkett Smith, the singer released another song that alluded to Pinkett Smith called "Shake the World."

"Well, of course, some shit was bound to go down when you tangled up with the world's favorite. Movin' on. Now that I'm out of this Matrix, let's say a prayer for all my haters," he sings.

In an Instagram post, Alsina debunked rumors that he was getting ready to sign a book deal about his "entanglement" with Pinkett Smith.

Alsina shared a screenshot of a text message that reads: "What would be the need to write a book about my supposed 'sex life' with ANYBODY, EVER, in life? When they've written several fantasies, hypotheticals & fictions based about me on wattapad."

In the caption, Alsina wrote: "cus playing w/ me AINT IT! Great attempt to assassin my character though. The part you've forgotten is, God gave me the LEADING role, & HIS story gets GREATER!"

Last week, Jada appeared on an NBC News special with Hoda Kotb and said that she and Smith have been separated since 2016.

Pinkett Smith also responded to rumors that the pair had an open marriage and were swingers.

"You know, that's part of it. I would say that none of that's true. I definitely can understand why there'd be misunderstandings," she added. "But none of it's true."

On an episode of "Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa," Pinkett Smith recalled how she originally wanted to make her and Smith's separation public on the 2020 episode of "Red Table Talk," but Smith wasn't ready to discuss it yet.

"I started to see him get uncomfortable. I started to see that he was not ready, and my codependency kicked right in," the "Gotham" star said. "And I was like, I am going to make sure you are good by any means necessary, even if that means taking on the false narrative that I've been the adulterous wife."

Pinkett Smith also said that she didn't want to pivot away from the conversation, but she was conscious of her husband's feelings. 

"And I came prepared — I did not wanna backpedal on that," said the actor. "I was like, I'm not gonna backstep on me needing this for myself. I want out of this handmade golden cage that I created for myself. And at the same time, how do I help take care of someone who's actually not ready for that part of the journey?"