Jada Pinkett Smith Teases Forthcoming ‘Worthy’ Memoir With Clip of Her & Tupac Shakur
Teasing a chapter of her forthcoming memoir, Worthy, Jada Pinkett Smith shared a clip of her and Tupac Shakur dancing to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Parents Don’t Understand” as teenagers.
A sneak peek of forthcoming Jada Pinkett Smith memoir Worthy is dedicated to the actress’ high school friend and late rap icon Tupac Shakur. On Wednesday (September 20) – two days after Pinkett Smith’s 52nd birthday – the Baltimore native shared a clip of her and Shakur as high schoolers, dancing to 1988 DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince classic “Parents Don’t Understand.” Years later, the Fresh Prince, legal name Will Smith, would become Pinkett Smith’s husband.
“Not in a million years would I have dreamed that the Fresh Prince and I would become, um, very acquainted. Not in a million years did I imagine three lives, their fates, would be so intertwined,” Pinkett Smith wrote in the caption, a brief Worthy excerpt.
She continued, “And… I never would have imagined that this video would become a tangible memory, of the last time Pac and I, were simply kids together. Pac and I lip-syncing Parents Just Don’t Understand by Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince during our Junior year in high school. Who would have thought?”
Although some social media users considered the post offensive to Will Smith, considering allegations of Pinkett Smith and Shakur once being romantically involved, the actress also shared an extended video of the pair.
As teenagers, Pinkett Smith and Shakur attended Baltimore School for the Arts in Maryland, before the latter relocated to Oakland, California. Their relationship was depicted in 2017 biopic All Eyez on Me, with Kat Graham as Pinkett Smith and Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Shakur.
In 2012, Pinkett Smith’s daughter, Willow, posted a letter where she asked Shakur, who was murdered in 1996, to “come back” so the mother and daughter could “be happy.” In Smith’s 2021 memoir, Will, the Oscar-winner admitted that he had “raging jealousy” towards Shakur, adding that he was “tortured” by the connection between the rapper and Pinkett Smith.
Pinkett Smith has spoken about Shakur numerous times, once on a 2018 episode of her former talk show, Red Table Talk, where she cried while discussing his death.