Jada Pinkett Smith once shared the unique way her friendship with rapper Tupac Shakur began.
Pinkett Smith and Shakur were friends long before either of them achieved fame through music and acting. They attended the Baltimore School of the Arts in the 1980s, where they honed their crafts. While Pinkett Smith and Shakur both had aspirations of being in the music industry, their humble beginnings could’ve derailed the success they eventually received.
For Pinkett Smith, specifically, the lifestyle before she met Shakur inspired her to change his ways before his untimely death in September 1996.
Jada Pinkett Smith thought it was ‘kinda hard’ speaking about the real way she met Tupac Shakur
Pinkett Smith and Shakur rose to stardom several years after they met. The actress landed several recurring roles on shows like A Different World and movies like Menace II Society. Shakur released his first studio album, 2Pacalypse Now, in 1991, which catapulted his career.
Early in their careers, Pinkett Smith and Shakur discussed their friendship in multiple interviews. Pinkett Smith, however, never shared the true nature of how she met Shakur until a 2017 interview with Sway in the Morning. The actress revealed she was selling drugs while in high school when she and Shakur met.
“It’s kinda hard because I haven’t really told the whole story,” Pinkett Smith said of meeting Shakur. “One of the things that’s very interesting that I’ve never really said before is that when I first met Pac when we first met, I was a drug dealer. Yes.”
Jada Pinkett Smith hoped Tupac Shakur would change his ways before he died
During the interview on Sway, Pinkett Smith also shared that Shakur’s lifestyle soon drove a wedge between their friendship. She said a negative experience she encountered while in the streets made her reevaluate the life she was leading. Pinkett Smith said when she stepped away from the street life, Shakur started to deal with it too. As Shakur began to gain notoriety, many events in his life kept him involved with violence, most notably his ongoing feud with Notorious B.I.G. The two rappers never squashed their beef, and both died due to gun violence. Pinkett Smith said she wanted her friend to change his life around to receive more positive changes as she did.
“There was a point in which we met and then we kind of were going our separate ways. And I just felt like, ‘OK God, one day you’re going to do for Pac what you did for me, which is you saved me. And that just never happened for him. And so that is something that I am constantly having to confront,” Pinkett Smith said.
Jada Pinkett Smith and Tupac Shakur were close friends
Pinkett Smith considered her friendship with Shakur as one based on “survival.” Their bond became a peace for Pinkett Smith as she began to develop a name for herself in Hollywood. During a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, she shared that Shakur pushed her to take her role in Menace II Society. The actress also described the two of them as an “anchor” for each other on Red Table Talk.
In 1996, Pinkett Smith said she and Shakur had a heated fight before dying in a drive-by shooting. She said the exchange remains on her mind and teaches her an important lesson in her relationships moving forward.
“It definitely taught me a lesson, which is life is too short,” Pinkett Smith said. “Do not let disagreements stand in between you and people that you love and care about.”
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