Jada Pinkett gives another reason why Will Smith may have wanted to slap Chris Rock

Jada Pinkett Smith has shared how she was once asked on a date by none other than Chris Rock.

In an interview with NBC, the 52-year-old actor also made headlines after revealing that she and her husband Will Smith have been secretly separated for several years but have no plans to divorce.

"I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be," she said.

Back in 2016, there had been rumours and reports about the Hollywood couple splitting, and Pinkett Smith recalled a phone call she received from Rock around this time - a memory also mentioned in her new memoir, Worthy set to be released on October 17.

LR) Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith attend Apple Original Films' "Emancipation" Los Angeles premiere at Regency Village Theater on November 30, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

“I think every summer all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce. And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce," she said.

"So he called me and basically he was like, ‘I'd love to take you out.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘Well, aren't you and Will getting a divorce?’ I was like, ‘No. Chris, those are just rumors'.”

She added: “He was appalled. And he profusely apologised, and that was that.”

The Smiths and Rock would find themselves in the headlines years later after Will Smith infamously slapped the comedian and host of the 2022 Oscars after he made a joke about Pinkett Smith during the awards ceremony.

"Keep my wife's name out of your f**king mouth," Smith shouted at the time.

Following this viral moment, Smith was banned from the Oscars and other Academy events for 10 years.

Pinkett Smith shared how she hasn't spoken to Rock since the incident.

“[Do I have] any desire to talk to Chris? Here's my desire: I just hope that all the misunderstanding around this can be cleared up and that there can be peace,” she told PEOPLE.

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