Jada Pinkett Smith and Tommy Davidson, of “In Living Color” fame, worked in the 1998 movie “Woo” and the 2000 release “Bamboozled,” so they’ve known each other for a while and established a friendship.
Davidson is the latest guest on the actress’ “Red Table Talk” series, and one of the things he discussed was battling addiction.
At one point, he revealed that Pinkett Smith’s mother and co-host of the series Adrienne Banfield-Jones once gave him life-saving advice when he was struggling many years ago.
“I was in Pittsburgh and you was like, ‘Hey, what’s up? You all right?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m all right,'” Davidson said Pinkett Smith told him then.
But it didn’t seem like the “Girl’s Trip” star believed that everything was OK, because she put her mother on the phone, who’s also a recovering addict.
“I just came with reinforcement,” said Banfield-Jones. “Because by that time you had already been exposed to the program.”
“But it’s a process,” Davidson followed. “It’s something that had to take its hold. And I just want to thank you, because that saved my life. And that was one of the many things that happened that is the reason why I’m here.”
Tommy said struggling with addiction impacted the relationship with his family, and these days he’s learned not to keep apologizing but to “atone.”
From there, Pinkett Smith talked about the relationship with her mother during her years of addiction, and how atonement came through the relationship she established with her children.
“What has been really painful for me in our journey, is to see Jada’s relationship with her children and realize all that she missed with me,” said Banfield-Jones, which made her daughter cry.
“That has been extremely, extremely painful for me,” she added. “I’m happy for it and I’m so proud of her. … And the loss is just as much mine as it is yours. It’s difficult.”
Pinkett Smith then weighed in and said she hopes Davidson finds the same type of peace with his children that she found with her mother.
“I hope for you that there will be an opening in some way to really have a deep healing with your kids,” she stated.
Based on the comments, it was clear that people were touched by the revealing episode.
“I cry almost every time. 😭 What an amazing story of his journey back to wellness,” one person wrote about Davidson. “So beautiful to see so much healing going on. Thankful to each episode of learning to grow from all of the experiences you show us. Many blessings to all. Hugs ❤”
“Jada, listening to this episode, and you and your mothers journey. I hope my own mother can atone,” wrote someone else. “I see it is possible. Lots of love for you and your family. ❤”
