With just one interview, singer August Alsina blew the lid off of years of rumors about one of Hollywood’s most respected and buzzed-about celebrity couples.
During a wide-ranging sit-down with The Breakfast Club‘s Angela Yee, the 27-year-old opened up about his controversial alleged affair with Jada Pinkett Smith and addressed the idea that she and husband Will Smith are in an open marriage. We did not see this coming but boy, did this bombshell deliver a major blow!
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First, a quick recap for those who might not be privy to the gossip: many suspected Alsina and the 48-year-old Girls Trip star had been romantically involved for years thanks to their super close (and seemingly platonic?) public relationship. His 2019 remix of the song, Nunya, which referenced an unnamed “actress” who was “putting on a show” and didn’t want “the world to know” they were an item only fueled the flames. The New Orleans native would go on to openly deny those rumors whenever he was asked — until now, that is!
Alsina explained he only decided to speak his truth now in an attempt to clear his name:
“People can have whatever ideas that they like. But what I’m not OK with is my character being in question… Contrary to what some people may believe, I’m not a troublemaker. I don’t like drama. Drama actually makes me nauseous. I also don’t think that it’s ever important for people to know what I do, who I sleep with, who I date, right? But in this instance, there are so many people who are side-eyeing me… I’ve lost money, friendships, relationships behind it. And I think it’s because people don’t necessarily know the truth. But I’ve never done anything wrong. I love those people [the Smiths] … They are beautiful people.”
So, what is the truth, anyway? Was he really having an affair with Will’s baby momma and wife of 23 years?!
Yes!
The two were in a relationship and no, it wasn’t a big secret! Alsina revealed Jada and her husband were in an open marriage as “life partners” and everyone involved was supposedly okay with it:
“I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation … 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 [Jada]. I devoted myself to it. I gave my full self to it. So much so that I can die right now, and be OK knowing that I fully gave myself to somebody… Some people never get that in this lifetime.”
He continued:
“This conversation is difficult because [it’s] hard for people to understand. But once it starts to affect me and my livelihood, I have to speak up about my truth… Walking away from it butchered me… It almost killed me. Not almost. It did—it pushed me into being another person… It broke me down… It probably will be the hardest thing I ever had to experience in this lifetime. It’s difficult because I never want to be the person to cause confusion or step on toes, but I want to honor myself and I want to honor my authenticity. And if honoring my authenticity means you hate me, stone me, shoot me, crucify me, whatever, bury me an honest man.”
Wow. That is a lot to process right there. August talks about the Red Table Talk host as if she was one of the greatest loves of his entire life and yet in the same breath, he takes a sad turn revealing how much he lost in the public eye because of it. Quite a bittersweet story, indeed. Speaking of RTT, fans might recall the singer was featured on a July 2018 episode of the show where he spoke at length about his past addiction struggles.
While this doesn’t exactly clear up all of those rumors about the Smiths being swingers, at least now we know their marriage isn’t quite as traditional as some may have thought. Or is it?!
Jada responds!
According to what her rep told Page Six on Tuesday, those allegations made by Alsina are “absolutely not true!”
Related: Jada Pinkett Smith Says She Doesn’t ‘Know’ Will Smith ‘At All’!
Hmm. Well, as candid as the Facebook Watch host is known to be, we didn’t exactly expect her to outright confirm these tales about her private life so easily. Although, we’ll keep an eye out for any additional statements from her or Will should they come. For the record, fans on Twitter are definitely buying this story!
In the meantime, ch-ch-check out his full interview with Angela (below) for more from August, including details about his new album The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy and its accompanying five-part docuseries, as well as his commentary about how things went down with Jada beginning around the 16:30 mark:
[Image via Fayes Vision/WENN]