Jada Pinkett Smith knows a thing or two about vulnerability. Now, she's opening the conversation up to her family.
Jada surprised fans with a Red Table Talk episode in July after rumors of an affair surfaced. There have been many rumors around her marriage to Will Smith over the years, but this was the first with commentary from a source.
August Alsina, a friend of the Smith family, revealed that he and Jada had some sort of relationship for a period of time. Jada took herself to the table to open up about what she called an "entanglement," in a conversation with Will.
On a more recent episode of Red Table Talk, the subject of vulnerability came up. Jada was joined by her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Jones, and daughter, Willow Smith. The three started talking about the times they'd been most vulnerable on the show. This led to the subject of the entanglement. It was Adrienne and Willow's first opportunity to comment publicly.
Jada has opened up about some extremely personal times in her life this year. It all started in June, when Smith family friend August spoke with Angela Yee of The Breakfast Club about his previous relationship with Jada. He claimed that he got Will's blessing to date Jada.
"I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation … He gave me his blessing," August revealed.
"And I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really, deeply loved and have a ton of love for her. I devoted myself to it. I gave my full self to it. So much so that I can die right now, and be OK with knowing that I fully gave myself to somebody … And some people never get that in this lifetime."
The interview fueled rumors of marriage problems between Will and Jada. They also validated years of claims that the two had an open marriage. The couple decided to get real about that time in their lives on a candid episode of Red Table Talk.
Jada explained that she and Will went through a low period where they decided to separate.
"I got into a different kind of entanglement with August," Jada admitted.
"One thing I want to clear up that was swirling around in the press was you kind of giving permission. The only person that can give permission in that certain circumstance is myself. But what August was probably trying to communicate … I think he wanted to make it clear that he's not a homewrecker."
Later in the conversation, Will asked Jada to be clearer as part of the show's commitment to candid conversation.
"It was a relationship, absolutely. I was in a lot of pain and I was very broken. In the process of that relationship, I definitely realized that you can't find happiness outside of herself," she said.
"And luckily enough, you and I were going through a process of healing in a much different manner. I would definitely say we did everything possible to get away from each other only to realize that that wasn't possible."
Will asked her what she had hoped to gain from the relationship.
"I just wanted to feel good. It had been so long since I felt good and it was really a joy to just help heal somebody," she answered.
On a more recent episode of Red Table Talk Jada, her mother Adrienne, and her daughter Willow spoke with author Brené Brown about vulnerability. Brené praised the women's commitment to vulnerability, calling it "the birthplace of courage."
"I'll tell you Brené, we definitely be trying to practice some vulnerability over here," Jada said. The three hosts went on to discuss what moments they felt they'd been most vulnerable on the show.
"For me, it would be the last RTT we did," showing a clip from the episode about August.
"Full blast of, like, flaws, and feeling and just the total breakdown of any mask."
Adrienne said it took "so much courage" for Jada to hold herself accountable in that public way.
"I'm so proud of you," Willow added.
"To be able to see you and dad do that, for me, that was like, OK that's real deal. That's real love."
Willow continued: "When you can be like, I'm with you, I'm gonna stand by you and I'm gonna hold your hand because I love you. That's what we do and that's really important."
Willow went on to say that her most vulnerable moment was opening up about her history with self-harm. In a previous episode, she'd admitted to cutting during the period following her "Whip My Hair" success.
"Looking back, it makes me feel even stronger because so many people DMed me or talked to me and were like, 'Wow, that really helped me,'" she explained.
