Entanglement.
That one word captivated audiences in the days after Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that she had been in a relationship with singer August Alsina while married, yet separated, from superstar Will Smith.
The term became fodder on social media, and memes were quickly concocted to mock the 48-year-old actress for using it on her Facebook Watch show “Red Table Talk” to describe her relationship with Alsina, 27. Pinkett Smith and Smith appeared on a July 10 episode to respond to Alsina’s interview a week earlier, when he admitted having a long-term relationship with Pinkett Smith.
“Four and a half years ago ... I started a friendship with August and we actually became really, really good friends,” the “Girls Trip” star said. “...From there, as time went on, I got into a different kind of entanglement with August,” further explaining that it “was a relationship.”
Over the weekend, Alsina dropped a new single called “Entanglements” that appeared to further shed light on the relationship. The track, which also features rapper Rick Ross, envisions a woman who questions her “willpower” and has a suitor “jaded by beauty.”
Here’s an excerpt from the song:
Entanglements, is when you tangled in them sheets
Entanglements, is when you're tangled up with me
Entanglements (The number one's here, it's the Biggest), is when you're gettin' in too deep
The New Orleans crooner also directly addressed Pinkett Smith’s response in a recent interview with Vulture magazine. Though many people found it dismissive for Pinkett Smith to use the term entanglement, Alsina said he agreed with her.
“I don’t know why that word is such an issue,” he said. “I would agree [with Jada]. If you look up the definition of ‘entanglement,’ it is a complex and difficult relationship. It was exactly that. I think it’s just the language that probably stuck out to people. But I definitely have to agree with it being an entanglement. It definitely was something complicated, a complicated dynamic.”
Alsina and Pinkett Smith say they were not regretful about the relationship, and neither has expressed regret about it being exposed.
“Through that particular journey, I learned so much about myself and was able to really confront a lot of emotional immaturity, emotional insecurity, and I was really able to do some really deep healing,” Pinkett Smith said.
Listen to “Entanglements” (which has some strong language) below:
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