Jada Pinkett Smith looks back on her tumultuous early years selling drugs as a teenager.
The 52-year-old actress turned talk show host shared her new People cover interview that she started selling illegal drugs as a teenager as a matter of ‘survival’, but it also allowed her to be ‘independent’, something she desperately wanted.
She talked about her difficult childhood in which she spent a lot of time with her grandmother, because her parents were addicted to drugs at the time.
The trip back in time comes as Jada admitted during a Today Show interview with Hoda Kotb that she and her husband Will Smith have been secretly separated for the past seven years.
Jada’s time dealing drugs came at an ironic point when she was also finding new opportunities as a star at school, although her parents’ inability to care for her left her future feeling uncertain.
Supporting herself: Jada Pinkett Smith, 52, told People in her latest cover story how she sold drugs as a teenager to ‘survive’ and be ‘independent’; seen in February 2022 in Santa Monica
No Parents: Jada began selling drugs as a teenager after locking herself in between her grandmother’s apartment and living with her mother, who was addicted to heroin at the time; seen in 1993
“When you’re not your parents’ priority, you don’t even know how to be your own priority.” “I had parents who were addicted to drugs,” she explained.
Jada recalled that she spent most of her childhood living with her maternal grandmother, but at other times she would live with her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, when she felt more capable of caring for her daughter.
Adrienne was struggling with heroin addiction at the time, although she later managed to get sober and is now best known to Jada’s fans for being a regular on her Red Table Talk series.
The Facebook talk show was canceled in April of this year, although its producer was reportedly looking for a new home.
Jada’s father, Robsol Pinkett Jr., also dealt with drug addiction, but was only an occasional part of her life and could be violent when he was with his family. Robsol died in 2010.
“Not having a healthy foundation, as I would find out as an adult, had really strong effects on how I saw myself,” Jada said.
However, time has given her a more measured view of her upbringing and the parenting (or lack thereof) she received.
“Our parents are not responsible for our wholeness,” she declared.
Take care of yourself: She said her grandmother taught her to be independent and not rely on men, so she started working at age 12 to provide for herself in case her mother overdosed or was arrested; seen in February 2022 in Santa Monica
But the absence of her parents from her life almost meant that she ‘didn’t know how to create healthy boundaries, to create healthy relationships.’
The Collateral star noted that her grandmother gave her lessons and assignments to help her understand the different perspectives of others.
“My grandmother felt it was very important that I could relate to anyone and she felt like I had to be well-rounded to do that,” she said. “So whether it’s reading books or hobbies, understanding different kinds of religion, she wanted me to always have an entry point to be able to have a common language with another person.”
Jada’s grandmother also emphasized the importance of keeping the house ‘intact’ and urged her to remain independent even after having a romantic partner.
“She also taught me to never depend on a man.” For pleasure or for money. She’s like, “Your pleasure belongs to you.” And “financially, she is not dependent on a man,” she recalls.
While it probably wasn’t the lesson her grandmother intended to impart, Jada said her need to take care of herself is what led her to start selling illegal drugs as a teenager.
“I knew that all I needed was something I had to provide,” Jada explained. ‘I decided to sell drugs.’
The drug dealers she saw up close also had a child of luxury and self-determination that she aspired to.
Stepping Up: However, the telemarketing and sales jobs couldn’t compete with the luxuries she saw drug dealers getting, so she started selling crack cocaine; seen in March 2022 in LA
Pervasive: Jada said that everyone who lived in Baltimore in the 1980s came into contact with drugs and either sold them, bought them, or were bystanders; seen in 1991
“Growing up, the drug dealers were the ones who had the wealth,” Jada said. “That’s what we readily saw as success.” And so for me, given my circumstances at the time, my mother was not doing well. She was a high-functioning heroin addict. We didn’t have the things we should have. The house we lived in was not taken care of.’
But she also tried working at “legitimate jobs” to achieve “financial freedom,” including starting as a telemarketer and salesperson at the Gap when she was just 12 years old.
The Matrix actress added that her fears that her mother might overdose or be arrested for her drug habit led her to step things up by selling drugs — specifically “crack cocaine” — to create a bigger safety net for herself and her family. .
According to her, life in Baltimore in the 1980s made it almost impossible not to at least come into contact with drugs, whether as a seller or user or just an observer.
“Everyone,” she emphasized. “Drugs will touch you, period.” You could use them, you could sell them, but there was no life in that environment and no drugs not touch you.
“And I’m not saying that’s okay, of course, we’re in a completely different mindset now,” she clarified. “But when you’re living in a war zone and you’re just thinking about survival, I wasn’t trying to do drugs.” I for sure she didn’t want to be a drug dealer’s girlfriend. But I wanted money to be independent. I wanted to take care of myself.’
Jada marveled at how different she had once been and how much danger she had let into her life.
“It’s the whole ‘other Jada,’ the whole ‘other Jada’ who would chase someone down an alley with a knife because they stole $700,” she recounted. ‘Or Jada who would sell crack cocaine and then she’d set up and two guys with nine millimeters come in and she’d put a gun to her head.’
Pros and cons: The actress said selling drugs was just a ‘survival solution at the time’, although she admitted she was ‘part of the problem’; in the picture in 1991
But more seriously, she added that selling drugs was a “survival solution at the time.”
‘And it really helped me. But it put me in great danger and I hurt a lot of people along the way,” she added.
The movie star noted that she and her fellow drug dealers were ‘doing well’ as their newfound wealth allowed them to sometimes help struggling mothers or pay for elderly women’s groceries.
However, she later realized that she and her friends “were also part of the problem.”