Jada Pinkett Smith Is Not Feeling Her Portrayal in Tupac ‘All Eyez On Me’ Biopic
Jada Pinkett Smith isn’t too keen about how the new Tupac biopic All Eyez On Me has portrayed her in the film.
Directed by Benny Boom, All Eyez On Me, is out in theaters today (June 16), but has been viewed in advanced screenings of the picture by celebs like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Suge Knight, 50 Cent, and, of course, Jada Pinkett Smith. The film has been well-received by most, but for 45-year-old seasoned actress Pinkett Smith, not so much. The part that she held the biggest grievance about is how the film portrayed her and her friendship with the late rapper Tupac.
The relatively honest actress was quick to share her candid thoughts on social media via her Twitter account. “Forgive me,” she began her tweet, “My relationship to Pac is too precious to me for the scens in All Eyez On Me to stand as truth.”
She went on to dispel any discrepancies between reality and what was seen on the big screen to say, “Pac never read me that poem. I didn’t know that poem existed until it was printed in his book.”
“Pac never said goodbye to me before leaving for LA. He had to leave abruptly and it wasn’t to pursue his career,” she continued. “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 concluded her series of honest tweets with that compelling statement of truth.
Despite the negative feelings the newly released flick stirred within her, Smith wanted the world to know that she had no issues or ill will towards the actors playing Jada and Tupac in the film, Kat Graham and Demetrius Shipp Jr. respectively. “Thank you for bringing so much heart and spirit to your roles,” she tweeted the young actors. “You both did a beautiful job with what you were given. Thank you both.”
Tupac and Jada have had a friendship that has stood the test of time and has even seemed to live on despite the untimely death of the late rapper. His iconic poem for Jada, aptly titled “4 Jada” (and other poems like it) have been the cause of speculation of how close the pair’s friendship was, but Smith has always been honest about saying that there was a respect there and a love there like no other, even if it was never anything past a friendship.
In a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, she told the radio host, “You know, it’s so funny because now being older, I have more of an understanding of what that was between us. When you have two young people that have very strong feelings, but there was no physical chemistry between us at all, and it wasn’t even just for me – it was him too.”
The Girls Trip actress went on to say, “The Higher Power just did not want that… We might have killed each other because we were both so passionate and we love deeply.”
“I miss him.”
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) April 25, 2012
Smith has also been forthcoming about how difficult of a journey it has been moving forward and past the loss of him in her life. Recently, she sat down with singer August Alsina and brought up the subject of Tupac.
During their conversation, she revealed, “Through you, I’ve been able to close some open wounds that were left in regards to my relationship to Pac.”
Tupac and Jada met as students in the mid-80s while they both were attending a performing arts school. “It was the first day and he came over to me and introduced himself,” Pinkett Smith recalled in an interview done back in the day. “And in high school, Pac was a little funny looking. Definitely from looking at him, wasn’t necessarily the type of cat that I would even like, deal with. But as soon as he approached me, he was like a magnet. Once you paid attention to him he kind of sucked you in. And we hit it off from that moment on…”
The friendship was not always kind, but it was enduring. And to this day, Smith still has regrets about things that she wished she had said to the rapper before his death in 1996. The two of them had had a falling out, but there was a lesson in his death, and one that she would always hold near and dear to her. “Do not let disagreements stand in between you and people that you love,” she said.
Be sure to check out All Eyez On Me, in theaters now.
Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/People
