Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are denying new rumors about cheating in their marriage.
Pinkett Smith revealed in her interview on Power 105.1’s “The Breakfast Club” on Thursday that she and Smith were planning to take legal action against a former associate who claimed Smith had a relationship with actor Duane Martin.
Host Charlamagne tha God asked Pinkett Smith about debunking rumors in her memoir, “Worthy” — specifically about the “No Soccer Mom” chapter where she addresses claims that she and Smith are swingers or gay. That was when the recent claims about Smith and Martin came up.
“Let me just say this, it’s ridiculous, right? And it’s nonsense. And this is a person that tried a shakedown, a money shakedown that didn’t work,” Pinkett Smith said. “We’re going to take legal action. Because it’s one thing to have your opinion about somebody, versus just making up salacious, malicious stories. So that’s actionable, we’re going to roll with that.”
Brother Bilal, an alleged former colleague of Smith’s and Martin’s, made the claims on “Unwine With Tasha K”, a podcast that was broadcast on Wednesday. He claimed to have witnessed Smith and Martin having a sexual encounter.
Pinkett Smith said that the rumor was “based on this person’s belief that they had in some way done business around Will Smith’s book and that they’d spent money, or whatever, and needed to be compensated. He already tried this money shakedown. Will offered to give him an amount, or whatever it was. He didn’t accept. This whole situation is based around that.”
“Red Table Talk’s” host stated that she did not know the specifics of the deal but that “we are about to take legal actions.” “We are for sure.”
Pinkett Smith, who revealed recently that she and Smith had been separated for seven years but did not plan to divorce, said they both laugh off the rumors. She said, “Here’s a good thing about Will. Will is always going to be funny.”
The Smiths and Martin representatives did not respond immediately to our requests for comments.
A Smith rep told People that the story was “completely fabricated” and that it was “unambiguously false”.
Bilal stated, “I stand behind all my statements. No’shakedown period’ existed. Jada is lying, I have the evidence.”
Martin has been in the orbit of the couple for many years. His last appearance with Pinkett was in April 2021.
Pinkett Smith attended Martin’s “The Seat Filler”, a film premiere, in 2006. Smith was also photographed with Martin at the 2003 premiere of “Deliver Us from Eva.”
Martin has appeared in two episodes of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” in the music video of the song “Will 2K,” as well as Pinkett Smith’s “Woo.”
He has also appeared in “Scream 2”, “Any Given Sunday”, and three episodes of “Bel-Air,” the reboot of “Fresh Prince.”
Martin was married for 20 years to Tisha Campbell Martin, the star of “My Wife and Kids”. She filed for divorce in 2018, and it was finalized by 2020.
In the wake of Brother Bilal’s claims, an interview with Lisa Raye McCoy, his co-star in “All of Us”, has also resurfaced.
McCoy revealed in a TV One interview from 2019 that Martin became close to her husband during their marriage. She said she had “lost him” when Martin was married to Michael Misick.
She said, “Introducing them was the worst thing I’ve ever done.” “I lost my husband in that relationship to Duane, and they were better friends than me and my spouse. I could not understand it for the love of God.”
She went on to say, “He was disrespectful when he introduced my husband to women we knew and were friends with.”
“I am still a little confused about this one. So, it is not necessary to say that me and Duane do not f— each other. F— him. “F— him,” she said.
McCoy’s representatives did not reply to our request for comment.
McCoy and Misick got divorced in 2008.
