On Oct. 14, 2023, YouTube channel Hot Hut published a video that claimed actor Will Smith had filed for divorce from his wife, fellow actor Jada Pinkett Smith, after she had admitted she loved the late rapper Tupac Shakur more than him.
The clip's title read, "Will Smith Files For Divorce On IG Live After Jada Admits She Loved Tupac More." The video had been viewed over 70,000 times on Hot Hut’s YouTube channel at the time of this writing.
(@HotHutYT/YouTube)
The YouTube video also circulated on TikTok, with one post we found there that featured a clip of the YouTube video having over 841,000 views at the time of this writing. We also found the video posted on Facebook.
The claim was unfounded.
The video was posted after Pinkett Smith revealed that she and Smith had been separated since 2016 during an NBC News special that aired Oct. 13, 2023. Pinkett Smith also discussed her relationship with Shakur during the special. Shakur and Pinkett Smith met and befriended each other as teenagers in Baltimore, Maryland.
While Pinkett Smith and Smith’s separation has been credibly reported to the public, there is no evidence that Smith filed for divorce, let alone after Pinkett Smith had admitted she loved Shakur more than Smith.
The clip contained a misleading video title with a mix of false claims and other emotionally charged moments that likely were meant to elicit angry responses in the comments. Such videos often end up with hundreds or thousands of views, as well as numerous comments from users who indicated that they had believed the misleading information presented in the clips.
We've previously fact-checked other false celebrity gossip rumors related to Shakur, like the unfounded claim that a grand jury had “confirmed” rapper and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs’ role in his murder. We found no truth to that claim.