Jada Pinkett Smith
Drinking excessively is something that Jada surprisingly knows a thing or two about, as she revealed to co-hosts mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris and daughter, Willow Smith, that she used to rely heavy on the bottle. She also dabbled in drugs. Both vices were things she indulged in for years, and she even likened her wine fix to "Kool-Aid." Eventually, those indulgences would prove to be the gateway into her misuse and reliance on heavier substances.
Her move to LA marked a change in her and she found herself experimenting with different "cocktails" she created. She often told herself that the things she was doing weren't "hard" drugs, so in her mind, she didn't have a problem.
"Drinking red wine for me was like drinking glasses of water. Because I'm used to that hard hit. I was drinking hard in high school, too, and when I got out here I was doing cocktails. So, ecstasy, alcohol, weed. Let me tell you, I was having myself a little ball. But it was like, 'This is not cocaine. This is not heroin.'
"I wasn't doing things that I thought were addictive. But I would do those three together, that was my cocktail. Your threshold becomes so high that what it takes for you to get to the place you need to get to — it'll take me two bottles to get to … OK, if I do ecstasy, weed and alcohol at the same time, I'm gonna get there faster and I can keep the high going."
The 49-year-old actress/host also noted that her drinking was so bad back in the day that she even used to out-drink her husband, Will. Trading in her wine for hard liquor, she noted:
"I was a–you know, a brown liquor drinker, vodka–like, I was a hard liquor drinker. Like, I could drink almost anybody under the table.Will specifically. Now, Will's a lightweight."
For her lifestyle, the entertainer would wait until the weekend to get her binge on, calling herself a "weekend party girl" who would drink and do drugs from Thursday to Monday. Jada noted that people in her life tried to get her to a place where she stopped her bad habits, but not even Debbie Allen.
She recalled a time during her stint on A Different World in the early 90's where she was vomiting but said it still wasn't enough to lead her down a path she wasn't ready for. Jada had to hit her rock bottom.
For her, that involved some bad ecstasy and passing out in The Nutty Professor trailer while on set.
"I had one incident. That was an eye-opening incident for me as well. I had one incident on 'Nutty Professor.' I passed out. Makeup trailer. I passed out. I went to work high, and it was a bad batch of ecstasy. I passed out. And I told everybody that I had taken – 'I must've had old medication in a vitamin bottle.' That's what I said."
In addition to her addiction to alcohol and drugs, Jada has revealed in the past an addiction to porn and has also dealt with addiction by way of her mom's history with substance abuse and heroin.
Ultimately, her rock bottom moment on The Nutty Professor set would serve as one of the catalysts to make her quit drinking and drugs cold turkey. The other was self-awareness about just how bad her dependence on wine had been becoming.
"I got it quick. Literally, I got it quick. Like, once I was going for that third bottle of wine, I said, 'You've got a problem.' And it was cold turkey that day. That day. I just stopped."
These days, Jada allows herself to have a glass of wine every now and then, but for the most part has stayed true to her cold turkey approach to substance abuse. The star can't touch dark liquor, and notes rum and vodka as triggers that she "cannot touch."
Jada is a reminder that it is not how you begin, it's how you end. And while we all have flaws, it is always possible to write a new story in the life that you lead.
She concludes, "I think back on my life, like, I am a walking miracle, no doubt about that. People will not believe."
Featured image by Jason Koerner/Getty Images
But a recent episode featuring Jada, and her co-hosts, daughter Willow and mom, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, may have been one of the most pearl-clutching yet: an episode of them getting their vaginas cleansed.
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She says:
"We are going to steam our vaginas. Yes, we're gonna steam our vaginas on camera. I ordered some kits from a really beautiful young Black woman who owns her own business. So we're gonna head on up and we're gonna get started. Let's go get steamed, ladies!"
Additionally, the women openly discuss the benefits of the age-old practice, and how it is important for women to celebrate their anatomy despite it being considered "taboo."
She continues:
"I'm sure boys sit around all day talking about their penises. I mean, that's why I'm telling you right now I don't want to hear nothing about this show. It being TMI and all that, 'cause if you can listen to all these little rap artists talk and abuse the vagina, you sure as hell can watch women give it honor and praise. And spend quality time, so I don't want to hear it. They'll be like, 'It's TMI. Oh, my God.' And I don't really care because we have to change the narrative around the vagina, and women have to take it back."
Well said, sis. Well said.
The word 'vagina' is a Latin word that translates to 'sheath' or 'scabbard', and it was used to describe these items until it began to be applied to describe the female anatomy. For hundreds and hundreds of years, it was thought that men and women had the same sexual organs, but that a woman's was simply facing inward instead of outward. That was until some Greek physician came along and explained the difference...kinda.
"Think first, please, of the man's turned in and extending inward...If this should happen, the scrotum would necessarily take the place of the uteri."
Basically, he's stating that if a man's penis and testicles were turned upwards inside a woman, the scrotum would be the uterus and the penis would be the vagina. This theory continued to be popular until around the 1500s, when anatomists were able to get a better look at the female body and produce drawings of the reproductive system. But listen, by that time, the damage was done, and people were hella confused, likely causing the initial shame and secretive nature surrounding the vag that exists today.
But Jada isn't trying to hear all that, she wants women to take the word 'vagina' back.
Not va-jay-jay, not hoo-ha, not the yoni. The vagina.
And this isn't the first time Jada has made the vagina the star of the Red Table Talk. Back in 2018, she revealed she had undergone three non-surgical procedures of vaginal rejuvenation that took years off her vagina.
"When I tell you my yoni is like a 16-year-old, I'm not kidding. I'm talking about the outside. It looks like a little beautiful peach."
She then took her mom to meet with owner Kelly Rainey, who performed the procedure.
Rainey went on to explain that she recommends vaginal rejuvenation to fix issues with dryness, incontinence and pain during sex, along with altering the outside appearance.
The process, which uses a wand that moves in and out of the vagina, "introduces heat which stimulates cellular turnover, which makes you feel younger again and it gets tighter and nicer and functions like it did when we were back in our 20s."
Well, alright then.
So, in 2021, here's to taking back our vaginas, and saying so. Unapologetically.
Watch the full episode, also starring Queen Afua, below:
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Featured image via Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
And now sis is tapping into astrology, by introducing us to Jessica Alexandria, also known as Behatilife.
Jada Pinkett Smith/Instagram
In an episode of her latest project, Jada's Essentials, Jessica is pouring tea on how we can best use our astrological signs to tap into our higher selves.
Jessica, who was raised in the space, knows quite a few things about shifting our lives through alignment.
"If you really take a step back, you know, and kinda feel out the vibes of our planet, you'll start to understand and see, hopefully, that there really isn't anything that is good or bad, it just is what it is. If you're living in a world of rules and restrictions from our society or from our family upbringing or from the expectation that it is you have for yourself, you will always find yourself guided of what it is that you feel like you should be doing, and never really authentically aligned to your intuitive path."
Whew, a word!
Continue reading for ways you can use astrology to create a positive shift in your life:
#1: Deepen Understanding of Self
Jada Pinkett Smith/Instagram
Jessica opens her list with explaining how astrology helps you understand who you are.
"Astrology provides a really clear insight into 'this is who I am, this is what I want' and it keeps you focused and it keeps you aligned."
#2: Manifest Highest Vision Using Moon Magic
According to Jessica, 'moon magic' is using the moon to set powerful intentions for the things that it is you want to see show up in your life, or things that you want to avoid. She goes on to discuss how we can all use the moon to know what sign we're currently in, and how we can best use its energy.
"This is one of my favorite ways of working with astrology. This is the magical aspect of it."
#3: Improve Health
Jada Pinkett Smith/Instagram
Plan your diets, get healthier, and get stronger!
"There is a such thing as medical astrology and this looks at your natal chart, your birth chart in order to look at your sixth house of daily routine, health, and what would make you a more vibrant, healthier individual."
Jessica then teaches us how to pull your astrology chart. You will need your birth time, location, and date.
"It's not all aches, pains, suffering, or failed attempts at feeling healthy, it's about maximizing your time here."
*poetry snaps*
#4: Confirm Your Intuition
Jada Pinkett-Smith/Instagram
One of my favorite moments of the lesson, was how we subconsciously suppress our intuition with statements like, "it's OK" or "everything is fine."
"Over time, when you are told to disconnect from your intuition, it creates so much imbalance. It creates psychological dysfunction. This is why it's so important that if you feel curious, if you feel called, if you have questions, that you break outside of these norms or break outside of these systems and allow yourself to feel curious."
Whew.
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Featured image by Jada Pinkett-Smith/Instagram
