Jada Pinkett Smithโs new memoir, Worthy, is full of several shocking revelations. The star discusses her stint as a drug dealer in Baltimore, being separated from husband Will Smith for the last six years and the special connection she had with Tupac Shakur.
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In the book, Jada also reveals that the late rapper proposed to her while serving time in prison. The Root asked the actress her thoughts on critics who may not understand the relationship she had with Tupac.
โIโd say if youโve never had a friendship like that, itโs a hard one to understand. It really is. Everybody leaves out nuances. Everybody thinks everythingโs so black and white all the time,โ she states.
Jada adds:
โItโs like โOh, how could they have been that close and there not been a romantic dynamic between them?โ But the truth of the matter is there wasnโt and we just had a really special connection and friendship that there is no real word for. People are like โNah, that feels like more than a friendship so it had to be this and that.โ People [are] always trying to find those titles so that they can understand what something isโand I totally, totally get it. Pac and Iโฆ we couldnโt understand it at times, you know, until we resolved that it just was what it was.โ
Revealing Tupacโs marriage proposal in Worthy was a tidbit Jada wasnโt sure about adding, but knows it was important for her to be as truthful as possible. โAt first, I wasnโt gonna include it,โ she says.
โBut what I didnโt want to happen was that I didnโt include it and really explain it and then it come out laterโฆand then here we go with people being like โSee! She didnโt tell the truth!โ So I wanted to explain and put it in contextโlike he was in Rikers and I had always been a constant in his life.โ
Jada also believes that vulnerability played a huge part in the proposal.
โI donโt think people will necessarily understand what it meant for him to be at Rikers. He was in a fragile state, so he was grabbing for that which he felt was stable, you know?โ Jada remarks.
โAnd I promise you, the moment he walked out of the gates of that jail, he wouldโve divorced my ass. He didnโt want me as a wifeโthat I knew. We got to thatโฆhe understood that.โ
Worthy is out now.
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