August Alsina has revealed he still loves Jada Pinkett Smith even after the actress famously described their affair as an ‘entanglement.’
Speaking in an interview with Lil Wayne on the season finale of Young Money Radio on Apple Music, the 27-year-old singer also admitted that the affair he had with Jada, 48, years ago while she was married to Hollywood superstar Will Smith, 51, positively ‘transformed’ him and brought out the ‘King’ in him.
He also insisted that Will Smith gave him his blessings to be with his wife after they both sat down and had a discussion about it.
Asked by Lil Wayne if he still loved Jada, who branded their relationship an ‘entanglement’ during her recent Red Table Talk with her husband, 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.”‘
On why he came out publicly to speak about the affair, he said: ‘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 addresses his initial statement that Jada’s husband Will Smith, 51, gave him his ‘blessing’ to date his wife 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?’
The singer recently released his new track ‘Entanglements’ featuring rapper Rick Ross.
‘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.
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?’
Following the release of the song, August had an interview with Vulture, where he said 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.
He added: ‘But I definitely have to agree with it being an entanglement. It definitely was something complicated, a complicated dynamic.’
During her last Red Table Talk, Jada vehemently denied allegations made by August that Will had given him permission to engage in a romance with her.
‘The only person that can give permission in that particular circumstance is myself,’ insisted Jada.
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.
