Shortly after August Alsina alleged he had an affair with Jada Pinkett Smith, she responded by revealing she would address the situation on Red Table Talk.
She's followed through on her promise, dropping a surprise new episode of the show focused on Alsina's claims. While she already denied reports that she had an affair with Alsina with the blessing of her husband Will Smith, the new episode sees her and go deeper into the comments. And she's accompanied by Will.
Near the 2:00 mark of the episode, the pair immediately start to discuss the situation openly, directly naming August. "About four and a half years ago...[I] started a franchise with August," she explained after delving into the response to what he said. "We actually became really, really good friends. It all started with him just needing some help. Me wanting to help his health, his mental state, y'know?"
The two said that when August came into their lives, he was "really sick," and there was an outpouring of support for him from the Smith family. Around then, Will and Jada admitted that they were going through a "difficult time," and they actually "broke up" for a while.
"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," Will said.
"At that particular time it was indefinite," Jada added.
She said at that point, her friendship with Alsina became a "different kind of entanglement." She shot down the claim that Will gave his "blessing" to anything, but she did confirm she got into "a relationship" with August during her separation from Will.
"I was in a lot of pain, and I was very broken," she continued. "In the process of that relationship, I definitely realized that you can't find happiness outside of yourself. Luckily enough, you and I were also going through a process of healing in a much different manner. I would definitely say that we did everything that we could to get away from each other, only to realize that wasn't possible."
Prior to the release of the episode, Alsina alleged, "I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation. ... He gave me his blessing." Both Jada and Will reiterated that Will never needed to give a "blessing," but she can see why August saw it that way considering their separation at the time.
Will went on to ask what she was looking for in her relationship with August, to which she said, "I just wanted to feel good." She added it was "a joy" to "help heal somebody," which she said stems from her "codependency." Ultimately, she said she was able to "do some really deep healing" during that period of time, and when she finally got back together with Will, August supposedly dropped all communication. "Which is totally understandable," she remarked.
Alsina previously that "walking away from it butchered me," and Jada seemingly confirmed it wasn't easy for him. "It probably will be the hardest thing I ever had to experience in this lifetime," Alsina added.
While this happened "years ago," Jada and Will said it has been "weird" to see the situation resurface. "Aug and I haven't talked in so long," she said. "You gotta go through some shit to get the answers. ... I definitely believe you and I, we never thought we would make it back."
Near the end of the episode, they both joke, "We ride together, we die together, Bad Marriage for life."
Check out the full episode above via Facebook Watch.
