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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Vicki Newman

Inside Jada Pinkett Smith's drug dealer past and close friendship with Tupac Shakur

Jada Pinkett Smith was a drug dealer in her school days.

The actress was dealing when she met rapper Tupac Shakur at the Baltimore School For The Arts and long before she married Will Smith.

The 50-year-old Nutty Professor star opened up about her turbulent past relationship with drugs after the release of Tupac biopic All Eyez On Me back in 2017.

She told radio show Sway's Universe at the time: "It’s kinda hard because I haven't really told the whole story. 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."

But she said "something bad" happening around that time made her decide to go straight.

Jada met Tupac at school (WireImage)
They had a close friendship (Getty Images)

She prayed that the same would happen for Tupac - who was tragically shot dead in 1996 - but it never did.

Jada said: "As I was coming out of the life, he was going more into the life.

"And so I've been having kind of an existential crisis around Pac... 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 that is something that I am constantly having to confront."

She went on: "Pac and I’s relationship was about survival. That's how it started. And I know that most people wanna always connect us in this romance thing, but that's just because they don't have the story.

Tupac wrote poems about Jada that were published after his death (TBS / Splash News)

"I just decided that one little piece was important to share, because it gives more insight to who we were that it wasn't just about, 'You have this cute girl and this cool guy they must have been in this romance'.

"It wasn’t that at all. It was about survival... And holding each other down in ways that only he and I could hold each other down."

Jada had decided to speak out about her time at school after being left unimpressed by the portrayal of her friendship with Tupac in the biopic.

Their close friendship - which inspired the late rapper to write two poems about her which were included in his 1999 posthumous book The Rose That Grew From Concrete - featured in the biopic, but Jada said it wasn't totally accurate.

She posted on social media at the time: "Forgive me… my relationship to Pac is too precious to me for the scenes in All Eyez On Me to stand as truth."

Referencing a scene which sees Tupac reading a poem to Jada, she continued: "Pac never read me that poem. I didn’t know that poem existed until it was printed in his book."

Pointing out other inaccuracies, she posted: "Pac never said goodbye to me before leaving for LA. He had to leave abruptly and it wasn’t to pursue his career.

"I’ve never been to any of Pac’s shows by his request. We never had an argument backstage. The reimagining of my relationship to Pac has been deeply hurtful."

Jada, who shares kids Willow and Jaden with husband Will, said she was not mad at the stars of the film for the inaccuracies, and that they'd done a "beautiful job".

Will slapped Chris at the Oscars (REUTERS)

Her post had come on Tupac's birthday, with Jada also adding: "Happy birthday Pac, you are cradled in my heart for eternity. I love you."

Jada has been back in the headlines a lot over the last few days ever since Will slapped Chris Rock across the face at the Oscars in a bid to defend her honour.

Breaking her silence on the whole thing yesterday, Jada called for healing.

She posted a meme on Instagram which read: "This is a season for healing and I'm here for it."

The simple post didn't directly address the incident on Sunday night, although it does appear it's what she is referring to.

Will divided opinion after storming the stage at the Academy Awards and slapping comedian Chris Rock across the face.

Chris had made a joke about Jada's hair, telling her he was excited to see her in GI Jane, referencing how Demi Moore famously shaved her head for the role.

But Jada, who has alopecia, didn't see the funny side and looked to be upset about it as she rolled her eyes.

Jada didn't look impressed by his joke (ABC)

Chris insisted his joke had been a "nice one", but Will was clearly angry and headed to the stage before slapping a stunned Chris.

Some praised him for his actions, saying he was right to defend his wife's honour, while others said he should not have resorted to violence, and some even called for his award to be taken away from him.

Just moments after the slap, he was back on stage to collect the Best Actor gong for his role in King Richard, and he apologised to the Academy and his fellow nominees.

He later issued a public apology to Chris.

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