Jada Pinkett Smith made headlines weeks ago when she slammed the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me, claiming that it was “deeply hurtful” the way her relationship with Shakur was misrepresented in the film. Recently, Pinkett Smith opened up again about the biopic and further explained why she was so hurt by the movie.
In a recent radio interview with Atlanta radio station V-103, Pinkett Smith was asked to explain in more detail why she had such a problem with the film. Although Pinkett Smith said that she had no intentions of trying to get people to boycott the film, she did want people to know that her relationship with Pac in the film was inaccurate.
“What you’re seeing in regards to my relationship with Tupac is not true. My relationship with Pac would have shown people a true — what he truly was. ‘Cause it’s one thing to see Pac’s persona, publicly, and who he was personally,” she said as she began tearing up in the interview.
Pinkett Smith then accused the producers of just using her friendship with Pac to sell the movie.
“I thought it was just handled in a very disrespectful way, and I felt like it was exploitive of me and Pac, how they used our relationship to sell a movie, and I just felt like it was tomb-raiding in regards to Pac,” she continued.
Still visibly upset, Pinkett Smith then chastised the producers for mishandling the biopic of such a beloved figure in the Black community.
“And if you’re really saying that you’re honoring a man’s legacy, then honor his legacy. And if you don’t have the story, fall back until you do,” she chastised. “I feel like we, as black people, we have got to protect those individuals that we say are important to us, to our history and to our culture. We cannot expect other people to do that if we’re not willing to do that ourselves. Pac is precious to us.”
“If you really feel like you did right by Pac, then congratulations. But if you didn’t, really sit with that. ‘Cause I hope next time if you get another opportunity to make another movie about a legend, you’ll do a different thing,” Pinkett Smith said.
Well, what do you think of Pinkett Smith’s stern words for the film’s producers? Let us know in the comments.
