After months of reports about her husband Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith is attempting to redirect the conversation on “Red Table Talk.” The series returned for season 5 last month and this week’s guest is author and psychotherapist, Kelly McDaniel.
In a clip from today’s episode, Pinkett Smith discussed mother-daughter dynamics impacting her personal relationships during her sit-down with her co-hosts, daughter Willow Smith, and Pinkett Smith’s mother, Adrienne “Gammy” Banfield-Norris. The “Matrix” actress revealed that the “biggest wound” to come out of her relationships is not feeling protected.
“My thing was, just, not having protection. That’s my biggest wound that comes out in all my relationships,” says Pinkett Smith. “And I’ve looked for [the] craziest kind of protection, and I don’t have a really good sense of what’s safe and what’s not.”
The 50-year-old describes herself as “either extremely protective or extremely defensive,” which possibly began after the passing of a family member. Gammy believes Jada lost her sense of security and protection as an adolescent after her grandmother died.
“And I’ll tell you why,” Gammy began. “The environment. It was my addiction. She found her security through my mother. But, when Mommy died, that’s when my addiction really took off.”
Pinkett Smith noted that the pivotal moment in her life came at the age of 11 or 12 years old. “That’s a really important time to feel secure and safe,” Gammy explains, followed by Smith, who stated, “And that’s when your womanhood starts.”
“And that’s when she lost her security,” added Gammy about her daughter. “My mother was her backbone.”
The former “Gotham” star explained that she no longer felt a sense of “safety” after her grandmother’s death, which led her to figure out life on her own.
She said, “Her house was safe. And so, once she was gone, there was no safety, so then I went into the world and created my own safety, and that was crazy.”
The entire “Red Table Talk” conversation is available for viewing now on Facebook Watch.
