Jada Pinkett Smith attends the 2021 AFI Fest – Closing Night Premiere of Warner Bros. “King Richard” at TCL Chinese Theatre on Nov. 14, 2021 in Hollywood, Calif. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/GI
Jada Pinkett Smith is baring all of it within the lead-up to her new memoir, Worthy.
In a primetime particular on Friday (Oct. 13), the Daytime Emmy-winning discuss present host and actress sat down with NBC News’ Hoda Kotb for a wide-ranging interview about her husband Will Smith’s notorious 2022 Oscars slap, kissing Tupac Shakur, and way more.
During the published, titled Jada’s Story: An NBC News Special with Hoda Kotb, Pinkett Smith mirrored on Smith slapping Chris Rock on the 2022 Academy Awards. The actress revealed that she didn’t notice her husband had struck Rock till a industrial break when her publicist instructed her, “Chris has left the building and he’s not going to press charges.”
Earlier within the week, Pinkett Smith instructed People that she hasn’t spoken with Rock because the incident, however that the comic approached her shortly after the onstage slap and tried to apologize for his G.I. Jane 2 joke about her practically bald head, which is attributable to her battle with alopecia.
“Chris came down to the end of the stage and tried to apologize to me,” the actress mentioned. “He said, ‘I didn’t mean you any harm.’ I said, ‘I can’t talk about this now, Chris. This is some old s—.’”
Elsewhere through the TV interview, Pinkett Smith touched on her previous friendship with late rap icon Tupac Shakur, whom she met within the late Nineteen Eighties whereas attending Baltimore School for the Arts in Maryland. “Pac was new. It was my sophomore year, and he looked over, and he saw me, and he just targeted me,” she mentioned, describing him as “charismatic” with a “beautiful smile.”
She added, “He had a little peanut head… He was just this happy, bouncy, energetic, just full of life, vibrant, you know? And I was like, ‘Whoa.’”
Pinkett Smith downplayed any romantic reference to 2Pac, however shared a narrative in regards to the pair kissing on her again porch. “We both pulled back like ‘What the hell?’” she mentioned, laughing. “It was not for either one of us.”
In a preview of the primetime special, the actress revealed that she and Smith have been separated since 2016 after the couple grew to become “exhausted with trying” to maintain their marriage collectively. She instructed Kotb that it was not a divorce “on paper,” however it was undoubtedly a divorce of their minds, even because the couple continued to current a united public entrance.
Pinkett Smith’s new e book, Worthy, is scheduled for launch on Tuesday (Oct. 17).
