August Alsina has revealed he still loves Jada Pinkett Smith, years after their headline-making affair, which the actress famously branded an ‘entanglement’.
Sitting down for an interview with Lil Wayne on the season finale of Young Money Radio on Apple Music, the singer, 27, also admitted that his romance with Jada, 48, while married to Hollywood superstar Will Smith, 51, positively ‘transformed’ him.
When asked by Lil Wayne if he still loved Jada, who branded their relationship an ‘entanglemen’ during her recent Red Table Talk, August responded: ‘Absolutely.’
He continued: ‘I feel like when you experience a certain type of experience on this planet and you experience a certain type of love, you, I’ll always, I will always have love for her as a person… Real talk though. Real talk.
‘The experience really did help to transform me and really bring out the king in me. But as for what people may say or whatever, or if it’s looking like I might, I’m doing something for attention. Absolutely not…
‘I mean, what’s perplexing to me is that I never think it’s anybody’s business to know my business. And my personal business.
‘But, when my personal business starts to affect my lifestyle and my livelihood, like I lost partnerships and deals behind that situation.
‘Because it looked to the world as if August Alsina was some reckless New Orleans ni**a that I’m just pushing up on somebody’s wife. And because they didn’t have the truth, those things happened and transpired.
‘And then when the truth was revealed, so many of those same people came back around it and apologised to me like, “I’m sorry, my bad. I didn’t know.”‘
He then went on to discuss the timing behind publicly revealing the affair, explaining: ‘Why am I talking about it now? I mean, I could have spoken about this at any point in my life.
‘But when my sister died, it was something that I decided to remove myself from. Because of the complexities of it. And I never want to be the person to cause confusion for anybody in their life.
‘But yeah, I couldn’t continue to walk around elephants in the room. And for it to be said that it was okay several years ago, that was what? I think my homie was just telling me that was not even a full two years ago when I dipped from that situation.’
Staying diplomatic in the aftermath, he said: ‘Here’s the deal, man, nobody’s wrong here. You know what I’m saying? Nobody’s a bad person. She didn’t prey on me, or whatever that people are saying. I actually didn’t even see the interview…
‘Real talk though, love is complex and it’s not as simple as people make it out to be… It is difficult and complex conversations to have. As I was saying, I didn’t even get to peep the interview that they did, but my family saw it and run it back to me.
‘I guess it was said that the narrative is that oh, this happened so long ago. Why is he speaking on it now, to make me look as if I’m doing this for some attention or whatever, when that’s never really been the case.’
The star then referred to his initial statement that Jada’s husband Will Smith, 51, gave August his ‘blessing’ for the two to embark on a romance as they were on a break in their marriage – a claim which the actress has denied.
He said: ‘Everything that I’ve spoken on in my initial interview is and was, and still is, my exact truth. I sat and had a conversation. As two men, we had a conversation and that’s what it was.
‘I think that people, because of the narrative that was painted, believed that oh, I’m speaking about this because I’m salty that they ended up getting back together when that’s never been the case.
‘They weren’t seeing each other in that way, but still and respect each other as family. We sat down as two men, like, “Yo, boom. You have my love. You have my blessing.” And that’s the situation as a whole…
‘It’s complicated because I don’t want to be the person to cause confusion in nobody’s world. But when something is coming down in my world and affecting my world, it’s like, look we got to – I’m ready to be honest. That’s really all it’s about.
‘But nobody is a bad person here. Not him. Not her. Not anybody. I have love for everybody. The biggest love, dog. I really do. You know what I’m saying?’
In embracing all of the ensuring chatter surrounding his affair with the Girls Trip star, August released his new track Entanglements over the weekend.
‘The definition of entanglement / It’s when you’re tangled in the sheets / Girl I know that we don’t call it a relationship / But you’re still f**kin’ with me,’ Alsina sings on the new track, alongside featured rapper Rick Ross.
In addition to crooning about telling a then-partner his ‘darkest stories’ and being ‘her little secret’, Ross raps: ‘Saddest part is I still love you, just to keep it simple.’
The revealing track also included the lyrics, ‘You left your man to f**k with me, just to pay him back. Don’t you know that’s cold hearted?’
In an interview with Vulture published on Friday, August said that he agreed with Jada’s use of the word ‘entanglement’ and believes their relationship was ‘complex and difficult,’ as the definition suggests.
‘I don’t know why that word is such an issue. I would agree [with Jada]. If you look up the definition of ‘entanglement,’ it is a complex and difficult relationship. It was exactly that,’ explained the singer.
As for the buzz surrounding Jada’s use of the word ‘entanglement,’ August suggested that the peculiarity of the language ‘probably stuck out to people.’
He added: ‘But I definitely have to agree with it being an entanglement. It definitely was something complicated, a complicated dynamic.’
During last Friday’s Red Table Talk, Jada vehemently denied allegations – made by August – that Will had given him permission to engage in a romance with Jada.
‘The only person that can give permission in that particular circumstance is myself,’ insisted Jada in the episode.
But in his inte.rview with Vulture, August stood by his original statement and claimed it as his ‘truth’
‘I can’t speak for anyone else. What I said in my interview, how I said it, when I said it, is exactly what I said and exactly what I meant.
‘That’s all I can really say about that. All I have is my truth, and all I have is my truth to stand on it. I don’t have any reason to lie about anything,’ concluded Alsina.
Though Jada denied the ‘permission’ allegations, the actress laid everything else out on the table last Friday as she dished on her entanglement with Alsina.
She wanted to clarify for fans that August ‘was not a homewrecker’ and that at the time of their relationship she and husband Will Smith were separated.
‘I guess about four and a half years ago, I started a friendship with August. We actually became really, really good friends. It all started with him just needing some help, and me wanting to help his health and mental state,’ she explained.
But things evolved romantically between the two over time. ‘I got into an entanglement with August… a relationship, yes, absolutely,’ said Jada verbatim, as Will sat across from her.
‘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.
‘And as I came through and started to realise certain things about you and I, he decided to break all communication with me which was totally understandable.
‘And I let that be and hadn’t talked to [August] since so it is a little weird that all this stuff is coming out now since this was several [years ago],’ said Jada.
Jada and Will have since repaired their relationship and have ‘really gotten to that new place of unconditional love’.
The couple – who wed in 1997 – share 22-year-old son Jaden and 19-year-old daughter Willow.
(Daily Mail)
