Jada Pinkett Smith unveiled a poignant chapter of her past, recounting the moment when Tupac Shakur proposed to her in 1995 while he was incarcerated. However, she candidly admitted she declined, fearing that the intensity of their bond might have led to a swift divorce upon his release.
Speaking on the “All the Smoke” podcast hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson to promote her upcoming memoir “Worthy,” the actress reflected on the emotional weight of that period. She recalled, “When I wrote about that in the book and when I had to talk about it, speak my words for the Audible version of the book, that was probably one of the more painful parts. Seeing him there, the condition that he was in and having to leave him there. He was in bad shape. And so, when he asked me to get married, he was at Rikers [Island].”
With deep affection, she acknowledged Tupac’s need for someone to stand by his side during his incarceration, and she was prepared to do so as a devoted friend. She explained, “I knew at that time that he needed somebody to do time with him, which I was gonna do anyway. He didn’t have to marry me to do that. I’m here. He needed a rock. Because of our friendship and everything we had been through together, he just wanted to feel that solidified foundation.”
Jada expressed her belief that, under the circumstances, Tupac might have married her and then swiftly sought a divorce upon his release. She shared, “I promise you, he would’ve married me and divorced me as soon as his a** got out… I just think it was the mind state that he was in. He wrote me this long letter, and even before ‘Pac went to jail, he was starting to shift in a certain manner. Good, really good,” Pinkett Smith added. “And I think that for him, he just felt like, ‘Okay, if I can tether myself, it’ll keep me on a trajectory.’ But trust me, he would’ve divorced me as soon as he — one thing he wouldn’t want me as is a wife. I know that for a fact! But I think just being at Rikers, it just kind of shook him a little.”