By now, we are all well aware of just how much Jada Pinkett Smith is the Queen of Transparency. And if there's one thing about transparency, revelations of your truths aren't always pretty. From vaginal rejuvenations to entanglements, Jada isn't afraid to leave it all on the table for the sake of progressive dialogue. And on a recent episode of her hit Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk, she dug deep to add her two cents to the collection plate about an unhealthy coping mechanism rearing its ugly head this past year: alcohol abuse.
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
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Feature image by Leon Bennett/WireImage
Just this week on Sunday, April 13, Aaron shared a shirtless selfie to his IG Stories, a classic thirst trap moment, complete with abs on display, and emitting just enough heat to get the timeline talking. Not long after, Teyana hopped on her own IG Stories with a three-word message that had the internet abuzz: “on di wey 😮💨.”
Aaron Pierre/Instagram via people.com
Now, maybe it was just a coincidence... but let’s be honest, it didn’t feel like one.
Especially considering Aaron’s West Indian roots and Teyana’s long-documented admiration for tall men she can climb like a tree (her ex-husband Iman Shumpert is 6'5" and Aaron's not far behind at 6'4"). That “on di wey” hit like a flirty green light. And fans caught it, quick.
Teyana Taylor/Instagram via people.com
This isn’t the first time these two have had us side-eyeing and doing double-takes to their timelines.
On March 3, Teyana posted a striking set of black-and-white photos on Instagram alongside Aaron. The two stood back-to-back, dressed to the nines and giving high-fashion, high-intensity energy. Her caption? “Oscar night in black & white, no grey area. 🤍”
Aaron posted the same photos, except his was without a caption, just vibes.
They also shared a table at the American Black Film Festival Honors back in February (where Teyana was also spotted holding his award that he won that night) and were spotted at the Vanity Fair Oscar party looking entirely comfortable in each other’s space. While they haven’t officially confirmed anything, the visuals have done most of the talking.
(L to R) Aaron Pierre, Teyana Taylor, Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts attend the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
Dave Benett/VF25/WireImage for Vanity Fair
And if you're wondering whether Teyana fits Aaron’s type? First, how could she not be? But second, according to a 2024 interview on Buzzfeed’s Seasoned podcast, the Mufasa: The Lion King star had a thing for women like Ashanti and Foxy Brown growing up. "My first childhood crush was Ashanti, and my second childhood crush was Foxy Brown," he shared at the time, sending social media into a frenzy.
Black women who exude sex appeal, confidence, and boss energy, aka, everything Teyana walks with daily. She’s the moment, the mood, and apparently… the mirror selfie responder...
Since finalizing her divorce from Iman in June 2024, Teyana has been booked, unbothered, and flourishing on her own terms. Between starring in a Dionne Warwick biopic and starring in One Battle After Another, a star-studded film led by Leonardo DiCaprio and helmed by director Paul Thomas Anderson, sis is locked in.
Aaron, meanwhile, is fresh off voicing the title role in Mufasa: The Lion King and gearing up to appear in Lanterns, an upcoming Max DC series, as well as the new season of The Morning Show. Lowkey highkey, they’re both in their leading-role eras, on-screen and maybe, just maybe, in each other’s lives.
Or maybe it’s just vibes. Maybe it’s more. But from the flirty exchanges to the red carpet proximity, this pairing feels like the kind of slow burn romance that soft launches are made of.
And if it is what it looks like? We love this for her.
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Featured image by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Vanity Fair