Source: Mychal Watts / Getty
Several online users are permanently exhausted by Jada Pinkett Smith’s frequently publicized love for her late friend, hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur.
The Girls Trip actress popped up on Instagram Sept. 20 with yet another nostalgic throwback displaying the special and passionate bond she and Tupac had in their youth growing up in Baltimore. The post was a video of the two teens spiritedly lip-syncing to her now-husband Will Smith’s 1988 song with DJ Jazzy Jeff, “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”
Jada initially shared the video with a voiceover of herself reading an excerpt from Chapter 5 of her forthcoming book, Worthy. In the reading, the actress said she never would’ve guessed that her Tupac and Will “would be so intertwined.”
The former Red Table Talk co-host noted that the clip of her and the late rapper is a “tangible memory” of the last time the two “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?” she said in the caption.
The starlet shared a portion of the two teens’ clip with the original audio later that day.
In the comments of the latter post, Instagram users speculated that the upload was Jada’s way of using her past with Tupac to taunt and embarrass her husband.
“How much could a man take.”
“The disrespect continues 😮💨.”
“This is vicious to post this.”
“Girl. The audacity. The thirst you have. The everything. It is giving a lot of things. None are good 🤦ðŸ½â™€ï¸. Poor Will 😢.”
“Come on sis you begging us to judge… Will did such an adorable post all about you smh.”
Notably, several others came to Jada’s defense.
“These people in the comments are trippin, they were BEST FRIENDS and Will got the girl. The man [Tupac] is DEAD. She has a right to remember and celebrate her dead friend. Y’all trippin.”
“She’s remembering her deceased friend, and y’all judging. Please get a life.”
“Some of y’all never had a childhood best friend and it shows 😒.”
The details of what was or wasn’t between Tupac, Jada and Will have frequently caused commotion on the internet.
The actress previously stated that she and the rapper had a relationship “separated from sex.” Still, the Queen Cleopatra executive producer received flack in June 2021 when users argued that she disrespected Will by sharing a never-before-heard poem of Tupac’s.
That November, Will admitted in his memoir that he was “tortured” by Jada and Tupac’s unique relationship. The actor even said he “suffered a raging jealousy” over it. Shortly thereafter, a Change.org petition scouting signatures requested that the Smith couple stop publicizing their marriage.
RELATED CONTENT: “Was Jada Worried That Will Was Going To Get A Beat Down From Tupac?”
Jada’s forthcoming memoir, Worthy, is set to drop Oct. 17.
The book promises to be a raw unpacking of the actress’s roots in Baltimore, reaching Hollywood, her marriage to Will, motherhood, and her self-growth along the way.
“Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale of Hollywood success. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold… A rollercoaster from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of self-acceptance and spiritual healing, Worthy is a woman’s journey to finding herself again,” the synopsis reads in part.
RELATED CONTENT: “The Internet Side-Eyes Willow Smith’s Alleged Letter To Tupac Shakur”
