Will Smith makes surprise appearance at Jada Pinkett Smith book event to support her amid separation news
Ever since Jada Pinkett Smith kicked off the publicity tour for her new memoir Worthy last week, the public has been learning a lot about her marriage to Will Smith — namely, that the couple separated in 2016. But in some ways, it seems their current relationship is as strong as ever, which the two affirmed Wednesday night by appearing together at a hometown book event for Pinkett Smith.
Though Smith had jokingly posted an "official statement" to Instagram that morning, he clearly had more to say.
"I just really wanted to come out and just be here and hold it down for you the way you have held it down for me," Smith told his wife before a packed crowd at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, according to the Baltimore Sun. "We have had a very, very long and tumultuous [relationship]. We call it 'brutiful.' It was brutal and beautiful at the same time."
Steve Granitz/Getty Images Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith at the 2022 Critics Choice Awards
Several members of the extended Smith family were also in attendance, including Pinkett Smith's mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris, and her two children, Jaden and Willow Smith — plus Trey Smith, Will's son from a previous relationship with Sheree Zampino, who was also on hand. Pinkett Smith describes Trey as her "bonus son" in Worthy.
The event was mostly billed as a talkback between Pinkett Smith and CNN legal analyst Lauren Coates about the new book. During their discussion, Pinkett Smith seemed to affirm that she and her husband are no longer separated.
"Will and me are good," Pinkett Smith told Coates on stage. "All the people who don't understand and got something to say are just going to have to fall in line. The truth of the matter is I'm not leaving Will's side and he's not going to leave mine. We've been on a powerful quest. And I'm happier than I've ever been."
During another book event earlier this week, at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York, Pinkett Smith said that Smith slapping Chris Rock on stage at last year's Oscars ended up bringing them closer together.
"When I was sitting at the Oscars, it clicked in. As soon as I was like, 'Oh snap, you hit Chris?'" Pinkett Smith said. "I was like, I'm riding with you. I didn't come into this place as your wife, but I'm leaving here as your wife because we got a storm we're going to have to deal with together. I am not gonna leave your side."
Worthy is on sale now, for anyone who wants to read more about this complicated celebrity relationship.
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