Jada Pinkett Smith’s Most Shocking ‘Red Table Talk’ Revelations

Credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Jada Pinkett Smith’s Most Shocking ‘Red Table Talk’ Revelations

Jada Pinkett Smith is an open book. Since the May 2018 launch of her Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk, the actress has opened up to her 6 million followers — and counting — about everything from her marriage to Will Smith to their blended family to her mental health. “I guess at this point in my life, I’ve really been doing a lot of interior work,” Pinkett Smith told NPR in January 2019. “And I just realized that in part of my growth, the women and the people who had the courage to be very transparent with me with certain aspects of their journey really, really helped my journey tremendously. … And so I was like, ‘I really want to create conversation where people don’t have to feel like they’re alone.’ And whatever pieces individuals can take with them to make whatever changes they might feel is necessary for more happiness, more joy, more peace — I want to be part of that journey.” Pinkett Smith hosts Red Table Talk with her mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris, and her daughter, Willow Smith. In each episode, the three generations gather around a red table (hence the name) in the Smith family’s home in the Calabasas neighborhood of Los Angeles. Their guests so far have included Gabrielle Union, Tiffany Haddish, Leah Remini, Kid Cudi, Jordyn Woods and Ayesha Curry. In a way, the Girls Trip star finds herself taking on a therapist-like role as the series’ main host. “I’m not trying to get you to reveal anything you don’t want,” she explained to New York magazine in June 2019. “I just want you to share that part of yourself on a deeper level. … You can’t come with just some ole fluff-fluff.” Since its premiere, the talk show has become Facebook Watch’s most successful program. It even landed a 2019 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Informative. Keep scrolling to read Pinkett Smith’s most shocking revelations from Red Table Talk: [podcast_block]

Credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Jada Pinkett Smith’s Most Shocking ‘Red Table Talk’ Revelations

Jada Pinkett Smith is an open book. Since the May 2018 launch of her Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk, the actress has opened up to her 6 million followers — and counting — about everything from her marriage to Will Smith to their blended family to her mental health. “I guess at this point in my life, I’ve really been doing a lot of interior work,” Pinkett Smith told NPR in January 2019. “And I just realized that in part of my growth, the women and the people who had the courage to be very transparent with me with certain aspects of their journey really, really helped my journey tremendously. … And so I was like, ‘I really want to create conversation where people don’t have to feel like they’re alone.’ And whatever pieces individuals can take with them to make whatever changes they might feel is necessary for more happiness, more joy, more peace — I want to be part of that journey.” Pinkett Smith hosts Red Table Talk with her mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris, and her daughter, Willow Smith. In each episode, the three generations gather around a red table (hence the name) in the Smith family’s home in the Calabasas neighborhood of Los Angeles. Their guests so far have included Gabrielle Union, Tiffany Haddish, Leah Remini, Kid Cudi, Jordyn Woods and Ayesha Curry. In a way, the Girls Trip star finds herself taking on a therapist-like role as the series’ main host. “I’m not trying to get you to reveal anything you don’t want,” she explained to New York magazine in June 2019. “I just want you to share that part of yourself on a deeper level. … You can’t come with just some ole fluff-fluff.” Since its premiere, the talk show has become Facebook Watch’s most successful program. It even landed a 2019 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Informative. Keep scrolling to read Pinkett Smith’s most shocking revelations from Red Table Talk: [podcast_block]

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She Dated Will Before He Was Divorced

“Because I did not understand marriage, I did not understand divorce, I probably should have fell back,” the A Different World alum admitted to Will’s ex-wife, Sheree Fletcher, in a May 2018 episode. “[Will] was ‘div.’ The ‘orced’ hadn’t happened yet.”

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She Was Once on Bad Terms With Will’s Ex-Wife

“Will Smith let me have it,” Pinkett Smith said in May 2018 while recalling an argument she had over the phone with Fletcher years prior. “His take was, ‘That is [my son] Trey’s mother and that’s not your place.’”

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Willow Walked in on Her and Will Having Sex

When Willow told her mom in June 2018 that her “introduction to sex was … walking in on you and Daddy,” a visibly shocked Pinkett Smith responded, “When the hell did you walk in on us?”

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She Learned About Masturbation From Her Grandma

“My grandmother taught me about self-pleasuring because she wanted me to know that that pleasure was from me,” the Matrix star said in June 2018. “She didn’t want me to fall into the hands of a man, and if he gave me pleasure, to think that that was him. And she taught me at 9!”

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She Knew When Jaden Lost His Virginity

“I knew the night — the night! — Jaden lost his virginity,” Pinkett Smith said in June 2018. “I had a moment with Trey in the kitchen where I looked at [Jaden] and I said, ‘You’ve had sex.’ And he ran into the bathroom … I was like, ‘You don’t have to be embarrassed.’”

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She Believes She Was Once Addicted to Sex

“When I was younger, I definitely think I had a sex addiction of some kind,” Pinkett Smith said in July 2018. “Everything could be fixed by sex. You know what I’m saying?”

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She Cried After Conceiving Jaden

“I was under so much pressure being a young actress, being young, pregnant. I was just like, ‘I didn’t know what to do.’ But I knew I never wanted to be married,” the Nutty Professor star said in October 2018. “I was like, ‘What am I gonna do now?’ I really didn’t want to get married.”

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She Once Went Out With Alfonso Ribeiro

“I actually think I dated Alfonso. I think I went one date together,” the singer confessed to her husband in October 2018. “My memory is … I dated a lot of people, but we went on one date.” (Ribeiro later denied this.)

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Her Marriage to Will Has Had ‘Betrayals of the Heart’

“I’m asked a lot about, ‘Is there infidelity in your relationship with Will?'” Pinkett Smith said in June 2019. “And it’s like, ‘No, but there’ve been other betrayals of the heart that have been far bigger than I could even think in regards to an infidelity situation.’”

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She and Will Split in 2015

After claims she had an affair with August Alsina, the spouses went on the show in July 2020 and revealed that they separated nearly four and a half years before and that she had a relationship with Alsina. "We decided that we were going to separate for a period of time," Smith revealed. "I really felt like we could be over."

However, Pinkett Smith began talking to her husband again, and Alsina cut off all communication with her. "We ride together. We die together," the pair joked, quoting his movie Bad Boys for Life. "Bad marriage for life."

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She's Struggled With Drugs and Alcohol

In July 2021, the Magic Mike XXL star admitted that she'd been dealing with alcohol and drug abuse issues since high school. "Drinking red wine for me was like drinking glasses of water," she shared, adding that she no longer drinks hard liquor. "Because I'm used to that hard hit. I was drinking hard in high school too, and when I got out here I was doing cocktails. So, ecstasy, alcohol, weed. Let me tell you, I was having myself a little ball."

While filming The Nutty Professor in 1996, the actress had an "eye-opening" incident that inspired her to quit using drugs. "I went to work high and it was a bad batch of ecstasy," she recalled. "And I passed out and I told everybody that I must have had old medication in a vitamin bottle. But I'll tell you what I did, though. I got my ass together and got on that set. That was the last time."