Jada Pinkett Smith hosts first Red Table Talk since ‘the slap’

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Jada Pinkett Smith hosts her first Red Table Talk since her husband Will Smith’s infamous slap, but with a special appearance by Janelle Monáe.

Now, Smith didn’t address what took place at the Oscars verbally at the Table, but she did choose to air a simple message:

“Considering all that happened in the last few weeks, the Smith Family has been focusing on deep healing. Some of the discoveries around our healing will be shared at the Table when the time calls,” adding, “until then, the Table will continue offering itself to powerful inspiring, and healing testimonies like that of our incredibly impressive first guest,” lending an answer to a question that many fans had been wondering: Will you be discussing what happened at the Oscars. 

Notably, the episode was filmed before the 2022 Oscars. 

Janelle Monáe’s Special Appearance

Nevertheless, instead of entertaining the drama between Chris Rock, Will, and her alopecia areata, the auto-immune disease that has caused hair loss on her scalp, Jada and her family decided to uplift and inspire us with special guest Janelle Monáe.

The dialogue included deep discussions around sexual identity and family acceptance of LGBTQ relatives. 

During the episode, Janelle Monáe shared her journey around discovering her own sexual identity and that she identifies as pansexual. People who are pansexual are those who are sexually, romantically, and emotionally attracted to others regardless of that person’s sex or gender. 

Monáe’s mother even made an appearance on the show. 

Janelle shared with Jada Pinkett Smith and the rest of the Red Table Talk gang, which includes Adrienne Banfield-Jones and Willow Smith, that she was from a really big family. Her mother is one of 12 siblings and is originally from Aberdeen, Mississippi prior to arriving in Kansas City. Her grandmother had 14 brothers and sisters, was a sharecropper, and at one point had to share a single pair of shoes amongst them. 

She further explained that her family was super conservative and that she had to create her own lane that eventually led her to the discovery of self. Janelle found refuge in her mother’s acceptance of her. As far as the remaining family members who had something negative to say…

“My whole family is church. And I’m just like, ‘what is it mean to go against your whole family— on this thing [sexual identity]?’ But, I was ready. I was like if they don’t love me don’t call me asking me for some money. You will not get my LGBTQIA money.” 

This special red table talk also included a surprise guest who happened to be one of Janelle Monáe’s biggest fans. 

Ose Arhegan is an outspoken advocate of LGBTQIA+ rights and was inspired to be herself upon discovering Janelle Monáe’s cosmic energy and unapologetic self. 

Lastly, if you wanna know what Janelle Monáe‘s family nickname is, it’s a “Little Pumpkin.