August Alsina is opening up about his headline-making admission in June that he had a relationship with Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Jada later confirmed the relationship with August during an episode of Red Table Talk, though she referred to what they shared as an “entanglement.”
In a new interview with People, the 27-year-old singer says that despite all the drama, he has “deep respect” for the couple and didn’t mean to “cause trouble.”
“It’s just a part of life, and it’s a part of the journey,” he says. “There’s a lot of love there. Sometimes truth is complicated and difficult. But [my relationship with them isn’t] broken at all.”
He also says he had no choice but to talk about his relationship with 48-year-old Jada amid the release of his album, The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy, since all the rumors were affecting his career. Some characterized him as a “home-wrecker.”
“I never really cared about what people thought of me, but my personal life started to seep into my business life,” he shares. “There were certain falsities about me, and it affected my business relationships. I could understand why it would look like I’m reckless or disrespectful so it really started to affect my livelihood, and I’m never OK with that.”
At the end of the day, August has no regrets.
“I’m always going to be in the driver’s seat of my life and control my narrative,” he says. “I can’t let anybody else do that for me.”
As for the criticism he received after recently dropping a song called “Entanglements” — an obvious nod to Jada’s now infamous characterization of their relationship — he says it doesn’t bother him and still insists that he is a very “private person.”
“It was cool when people were able to use it as a mockery of me, like, ‘Oh, you’re an entanglement,'” he says. “When I flipped it, it became a problem for people. Like, ‘Oh, you’re clout-chasing.’ I’m just doing business. It’s not personal.”
August first talked about his relationship with Jada in an interview with radio personality Angela Yee in June. He emotionally claimed that Will gave him his “blessing.”
“I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation,” August claimed. “Due to the transformation from their marriage to [a] life partnership that they spoken on several times, and not involving romanticism, he gave me his blessing.”
“I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life,” he continued. “I truly and really, really deeply loved, and have a ton of love for her. I devoted myself to it, I gave my full self to it. So much so to the point that I can die right now and be OK with knowing that I truly gave myself to somebody. I really loved the person that I experienced that [with] and know what [that feels] like — if some people never get that in this lifetime.”
In a later Instagram post, he said he stood by his “truth” and claimed that everyone was contacted prior to his interview with Yee.
“I should also say that, no one was side swiped by any conversation, everyone got courtesy calls time in advance,” he wrote.
During Jada’s Red Table Talk episode with 51-year-old Will in July, she said she ended up getting involved with August when she and Will were separated. She also disputed his claim that Will gave him “permission.”
“The only person that could give permission in that particular circumstance is myself,” she said.
“I just wanted to feel good, it had been so long since I felt good,” she continued about her relationship with August. “And it was really a joy to just help heal someone. I think that has a lot to do with my co-dependency.”
Ultimately, she said she did not find the type of fulfillment she was looking for.
“I definitely realized you can’t find happiness outside yourself,” she said.
