Jada Pinkett Smith and her mom seem super close and in a healthy enough space to co-host a show together that deals with healing and tackling demons. What can we learn about this mother-daughter relationship? Red Table Talk has revealed details that people didn't know about the Smith family. The show has also been a safe space for other celebrities to share their truths. On the show, we discovered that Jada Pinkett Smith had an "entanglement" with R&B singer August Alsina. Pinkett Smith also opened up about her hair loss and battle with alopecia. A common theme on the show is also addiction.
On RTT, Pinkett Smith's mom Adrienne Banfield-Norris has also been candid about her 20-year heroin addiction, which one can imagine would impact her relationship with her daughter. Fortunately, Banfield-Norris has been sober for thirty years. Pinkett Smith and her mom seem super close and in a healthy enough space to co-host a show together that deals with healing and tackling demons. What can we learn about this mother-daughter relationship?
10 Banfield-Norris Grew Up In A Middle-Class Family
Banfield-Norris was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father was a physician and her Jamaican-born mother, Marion Banfield, was a physician. She expressed that she grew up in a middle-class family. Banfield-Norris went to the Baltimore Ethical Society, a congregation that supports all religious and spiritual beliefs, and the first racially integrated congregation in the city, but Banfield-Norris identifies herself as Christian. She also considers herself to have an old-school way of thinking, which makes sense given her reaction to her granddaughter Willow Smith coming out as polyamorous.
9 Banfield-Norris Was A Teenage Mom
Banfield-Norris became pregnant while she was in high school by Robsol Pinkett Jr. Pinkett Smith revealed via People that her father didn't want much to do with her until she became famous. Banfield-Norris and Pinkett did get married, but they divorced after several months, and Banfield-Norris raised her daughter with the help of her mother, Marion Banfield.
8 Early On, Pinkett Smith Saw Her Mother's Scars
People also reported that Pinkett Smith was well-aware of her mom's "violent relationship" with her father. In one RTT episode, she shared, "She has a couple scars on her body that, as a child, I was just curious. I was like, 'Oh, Mommy, what's that?" Banfield-Norris admitted that she went through domestic abuse and that her ex-husband's alcohol abuse was typically the cause. She expressed that women tend to stay in abusive relationships because they think they're in love.
7 Banfield-Norris Believed That She Was A Bad Mom
Shortly after Banfield-Norris gave birth to her daughter, her heroin addiction began, and she didn't stop until Pinkett Smith was around 18 years old, which she's expressed is way too long. Pinkett Smith knew that her mother was not merely tired all the time. She was aware of her addiction because Banfield-Norris would nod off or couldn't make it on time to pick her up from school.
6 Pinkett Smith Does Not Resent Her Mother But Wouldn't Go To Therapy Sessions With Her.
Banfield-Norris believed that it was healthy for Pinkett Smith to go to therapy with her, but she refused. However, Pinkett Smith does not feel resentful towards her mother. She used these struggles as motivations, and clearly, her inspiration panned out well for her based on her successful career. However, Pinkett Smith has revealed that she's had addiction struggles regarding alcohol, sex, and going to the gym. Pinkett Smith has to manage addictive or neurotic behaviors when it comes to multiple aspects of her life.
5 Even During Her Addiction, Banfield-Norris Was Still Successful
Amid a heroin addiction, Banfield-Norris graduated at the top of her nursing class at Coppin State University in Baltimore, MD. The timeline is unclear, but Banfield-Norris was also the head nurse at an Inner-City clinic in Baltimore, MD. With Pinkett Smith's grandmother being a social worker and her mom being a nurse, success seems to be in her genes. Gammy gained a following on RTT for her no-holds-barred personality and now has a podcast named #PositvelyGam.
4 Pinkett Smith Expressed That Her Mother Never Got In The Way Of Her Dreams
As a child, both Pinkett Smith's mother and grandmother understood her talent. Pinkett Smith expressed that her mother never got in the way of her dreams. Her grandmother encouraged her a lot because she enrolled her in piano, tap, dance, and ballet lessons. Pinkett Smith also admired her grandmother a lot because she wanted to beautify and make the world a better place with her actions.
3 The Death Of Pinkett Smith's Grandmother Strained The Relationship
Banfield-Norris' mom served as an escape to Pinkett Smith. It's unclear how and when she passed away, but it clear that she was a guiding light in Pinkett Smith's life. Banfield-Norris revealed that when her mother died, Pinkett Smith's outlet was gone because, after all, she did grow up in a dysfunctional home.
2 Banfield-Norris Revealed That She And Her Daughter Are Not As Close As Everyone Assumes
According to The New York Times, people see Banfield-Norris' relationship with her granddaughter as "lighthearted and fun." However, she describes her relationship with Pinkett Smith as more serious. She revealed that for her relationship with her daughter to mend, Pinkett Smith had to see the change in her.
1 One Thing That Pinkett Smith Hopes To Inherit From Her Mom Is The Fountain Of Youth
As of 2021, Banfield-Norris is 67, and she looks fantastic. Her skin is always glowing, and she takes time to share her skin tips on IG. What she's also shared on her IG is her killer-abs. After her recovery, fitness became a part of her lifestyle. Pinkett Smith hopes that when she's in her 60s, she looks as stellar as her mom.
