The world seems unaware that Jada Pinkett Smith and Gabrielle Union had a nearly two-decade feud that no one talked about until the Matrix actress opened up about it on her online talk show. Pinkett Smith and Union rose to fame in the late 1990s, and that’s also when their longstanding war began.
It seems that the disagreement stemmed from something too personal that every time they chance upon each other, they feel the tension crawling up their nerves. The feeling was mutual back then, and realizing it had been almost twenty years, they could not even recall how it happened.
What’s The 17-Year-Old Feud Between Jada Pinkett Smith And Gabrielle Union All About?
Jada Pinkett Smith addressed this issue on her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk. The host invited Gabrielle Union to finally settle the ancient war between them and to pinpoint the root cause of it.
Speaking with Essence, Pinkett Smith explained the real deal between her and Union. When they tried to figure out what the problem was, no one could give an answer:
“She and I did not talk for 17 years, and we could not remember why. There was just tension between us every time we would see each other. There was some moment that we had that just left a bad taste in both of our mouths. When we got on the phone to try to figure out what it was we could not figure it out!”
The Girls Trip star admitted that the phone call was “a deeply healing moment” for her:
“There are so many of us that hold onto stuff, that we don’t even know why we’re holding on, and we’re hurting ourselves more than we’re hurting the other person. The idea of releasing someone and releasing yourself, she and I felt so good about it.”
Union confessed to Today (via People) that it was pride and insecurity that worsened the rift between her and Pinkett Smith:
“Even though we’re both very outspoken women, we’re both activists, our husbands are friends, we both felt we had too much pride and too much insecurities to actually say, ‘Hey, did that ever happen or was that a creation of someone else who did not want to see two women rise together?’”
In the end, Pinkett Smith and Union said their apologies, held hands together, and ultimately squashed the beef that kept them from being good friends.
Friendship And Forgiveness Win Over Jada Pinkett Smith And Gabrielle Union’s Enduring War
The Bad Moms actress admitted that her reconciliation with Gabrielle Union was a very touching episode for her. She claimed:
“This is a very special show for me because what I decided to do was make this about creating a new girlfriend. Gab and I, we had a bit of a break, we don’t know how, and she’s been open to this healing, she’s been open to this conversation.”
Union also revealed that the old tension was probably influenced by the people trying to pit them against each other:
“Jada nor I ever used the word feud… Back in the day, neither one of us knew originally what took place back then, but the people that we had around us were like, ‘Well, you know how she feels about you.’”
It only proves that it is never too late to forgive as long as one keeps an open mind and heart. Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk remains one of the rawest and most honest programs on social media that aims to help bring out authenticity in people’s daily lives.
Sources: Essence, Today via People
