Jada Pinkett Smith Reveals Tupac’s Unexpected Proposal From Rikers Island

Jada Pinkett Smith opened up about an emotional moment in her life during a recent episode of the All The Smoke podcast, dropping Oct. 19. She revealed that Tupac Shakur proposed to her while he was incarcerated in Rikers Island in 1995. She discussed the situation in Worthy, her upcoming memoir. 

Pinkett Smith, 52, admitted that recording the Audible version of her memoir was emotionally taxing for her, especially when it came to talking about her experience with Tupac. She prefaced that she didn’t believe that he proposed to her because he was in love with her, but rather because he needed someone to ground him while in prison, Vibe reported.

“When I wrote about that in the book and when I had to talk about it, speak my words for the Audible version of the book, that was probably one of the more painful parts,” she said on the podcast. “Seeing him there, the condition that he was in and having to leave him there. He was in bad shape. And so, when he asked me to get married, he was at Rikers.”

She continued, “And I knew at that time that he needed somebody to do time with him, which I was gonna do anyway. He didn’t have to marry me to do that. I’m here. He needed a rock. He needed — because of our friendship and everything we had been through together, he just wanted to feel that solidified foundation. ‘Cause I promise you, he would’ve married me and divorced me as soon as his a** got out. He would’ve! I can be real with it… I just think it was the mind state that he was in, you know?

“He wrote me this long letter, and even before ‘Pac went to jail, he was starting to shift in a certain manner.”

The actress and “Red Table” host explained that she knew what went into the proposal at the time and posited that being married would help him to clean up his image. 

“I think that for him, he just felt like, ‘OK, if I can tether myself, it’ll keep me on a trajectory.’ But trust me, he would’ve divorced me as soon as he — one thing he wouldn’t want me as is a wife. I know that for a fact!,” she told the host.

Pinkett Smith concluded that she believed that Tupac was ultimately just shaken up from being locked up at Rikers.

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Jada Pinkett Smith reveals that Tupac proposed to her while he was in jail.

Jada and Tupac met at Baltimore School of the Arts as teenagers. They had a tight bond up until Pac’s death.

Full episode with Jada drops Thursday 10/19 on our YouTube. pic.twitter.com/XjOE7hb1DD

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