Jada Pinkett Smith confirms split from Will Smith, says they separated in 2016

Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Jada Pinkett Smith is going public about her split from her husband, Will Smith.

The 52-year-old actress confirmed in a preview of an interview with NBC News released Wednesday that she and Will, 55, have lived "completely separate lives" since 2016.

Smith shared the news ahead of the release of her memoir, Worthy, which debuts Oct. 17.

She and Will married in December 1997 and have two children together, son Jaden, 25, and daughter Willow, 22.

Smith and Will Smith consider themselves divorced, although they never legally filed to end their marriage. The pair kept their separation private and appeared together in public in the years since, even shutting down rumors of a split.

In the interview, Smith explained why she and Will kept their situation private.

"I think just not being ready yet, still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership and in regards to how do we present that to people," the star said. "And we hadn't figured that out."

"I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get divorced -- we will work through whatever -- and I just haven't been able to break that promise," she added.

Smith said "a lot of things" contributed to herself and Will ultimately calling it quits.

"I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be," she added.

Smith also confirmed her split from Will Smith in an interview with People.

"We're still figuring it out," she said of her marriage. "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."

Smith and Will Smith had been separated for six years when Will slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards after Rock made a joke about Jada. Smith further addresses the controversy in her memoir.