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Jada Pinkett Smith is standing by her husband — and denying new rumors of infidelity.
The “Red Table Talk” host appeared Thursday on “The Breakfast Club” radio show when she was asked about a new piece of gossip alleging Will Smith had a sexual relationship with fellow actor Duane Martin. However, she made it clear to hosts Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy that it had no merit.
“Let me just say this,” she replied. “It’s ridiculous, right? And it’s nonsense.”
Rumors about her marriage have existed since the pair tied the knot in 1997. While Pinkett Smith has already addressed some of that gossip in her memoir, “Worthy,” a new claim about the couple’s marriage surfaced on Wednesday.
Brother Bilaal, who claims to have formerly worked as Smith’s assistant, said in an interview on the “Unwine with Tasha K” podcast that he walked in on Smith and Martin having sex. Pinkett Smith has denied his claims, dismissing it as an effort to extort herself and her husband.
“This is a person that tried a shakedown, a money shakedown that didn’t work,” Pinkett Smith said on “The Breakfast Club.” “We’re gonna 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.”
She added, “So we gon’ roll with that.”
Kevin Winter via Getty Images
The Hollywood couple has made countless headlines over the years for various reasons, including an “entanglement” Pinkett Smith had with singer August Alsina, Smith’s infamous Oscars slap — and the revelation that the seemingly perfect couple separated in 2016.
Pinkett Smith maintains this latest rumor is “not true,” however.
“It’s based around this person’s idea that they, in some way, were doing business around Will’s book, and that they spent money, or what have you, and that they needed to be compensated,” she said Thursday. “So he already tried to do this money shakedown.”
The book in question presumably regards Smith’s titular 2021 memoir, for which he was “willing to give” Bilal “a certain amount,” said Pinkett Smith. She added that Bilaal “didn’t take it” and that “this whole situation is based on that.”
Martin, meanwhile, has yet to address the matter.