A Hollywood reputation expert has slammed ‘self-absorbed’ Jada Pinkett and Will Smith for ‘breaking the public’s trust’ by pretending to be married – despite secretly separating seven years ago.

Jada, 52, this week revealed in a series of bombshell interviews that she and her husband, 55, have been living ‘completely separate lives’ since 2016 because they became ‘exhausted with trying’ to make their marriage work.

The Girls Trip actress also admitted she was left stunned when Will referred to her as his ‘wife’ and slapped Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars as they were no longer together.

But while she may have hoped her candid confession about the state of her marriage would help shift copies of her new memoir Worthy, reputation expert Eric Schiffer claims she could end up paying a hefty price for the shock revelations.

‘Jada and Will’s trust and reputation with the public were hit hard by revealing they separated for seven years,’ he told DailyMail.com exclusively.

‘The two hid it from the public, appearing together to serve their self-absorbed, out-of-touch celebrity elite agenda.’

Eric, who serves as the chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, added: ‘The duo were deluded and failed to see that audiences today are easily disgusted by celebrity phoniness.

‘Readers will now question and be slow to trust many of the stories in Jada’s book.’

The pair, who tied the knot in 1997, have spent the past seven years openly flaunting their so-called happy marriage to the world, repeatedly gushing about their romance in interviews and online.

Even after Jada admitted that she’d had an affair with singer August Alsina in a bombshell 2020 episode of her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk, the pair continued to brazenly declare their love and commitment for one another, putting on loved-up displays on the red carpet, sharing Instagram tributes, and regularly referring to one another as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’.

Then there was the moment that Will seemingly defended his wife’ honor by storming the stage and slapping Chris at the Oscars after he poked fun at her bald hairstyle – not long after she had revealed she was suffering from alopecia.

In a series of interviews this week, Jada revealed that despite living separately, they have no plans to file for divorce and are simply trying to ‘figure out’ what the future of their marriage looks like.

Speaking to People, she said: ‘We’ve been doing some really heavy-duty work together.

‘We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like.’

Jada went on to praise her children – Jaden, 25 and Willow, 22 – for standing by her during this rocky time.

‘My children, they’re little gurus. They’ve taught me a deep sense of self-acceptance,’ she said. ‘They love every part of me. The level of love, unconditional love that they have for me and their dad.

‘And it’s one thing to want to be the person that gives that unconditional love. And then there’s, to be the recipient of that.’

Besides lifting the lid on her marriage, Jada also claimed that comedian Chris once asked her out on a date when divorce rumors about her and Will were swirling.

‘I think every summer all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce,’ she said. ‘And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce.

‘So he called me and basically he was like, ‘I’d love to take you out,” she recalled. ‘And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘Well, aren’t you and Will getting a divorce?’ I was like, ‘No, Chris, those are just rumors.’

‘He was appalled. And he profusely apologized and that was that.’

Chris is said to be frustrated at being dragged into their marital struggles, with insiders claiming he would prefer it if the actress kept his name out of her mouth as she continues to promote her tell-all book.