Jada Pinkett Smith said she thought it was a skit when her husband Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Academy Awards.

It was only after the actor began to walk back to his seat in the audience that Pinkett Smith realized it wasn’t, the 52-year-old actress revealed in a People magazine interview published Wednesday in support of her forthcoming memoir, "Worthy."

What You Need To Know

  • Jada Pinkett Smith and husband Will Smith have been living separate lives since 2016, the actress told Hoda Kotb on NBC's "TODAY" on Wednesday

  • The couple have been married since 1997 and have two adult children

  • Pinkett Smith thought Will Smith's slap of comedian Chris Rock during the 2022 Academy Awards was a skit at first

  • The 52-year-old actress said the two are still trying to figure out how to be in partnership

The infamous slap came after Rock joked about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. Her husband then walked onto the stage and struck the comedian ostensibly to defend his wife, who suffers from alopecia. Her interview with People is the first time she’s spoken about the incident in the 18 months since it happened.

The interview also revealed that the Smiths, who have been married since 1997, were separated at the time of the slap. While they remain legally married, they have been living “completely separate lives” since 2016, Pinkett Smith told Hoda Kotb on NBC's "TODAY." The couple have two children: Jaden, 25, and Willow, 22.

In 2020, Pinkett Smith revealed she had an affair for several years with singer August Alsina, but she and Smith have not divorced.

“I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce,” Pinkett Smith told Kotb, adding that they are “still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership.”