Actress Jada Pinkett Smith opened up about her addiction to porn before starting a relationship with current husband Will Smith.
The conversation centered on the subject of pornography and its affect on relationships on Monday's episode of Red Table Talks on Facebook.
The discussion began backstage with her daughter Willow and mother Adrienne Banfield Norris when Smith said that 40 million people watch porn on a daily basis.
"Back in the day I had a little porn addiction," the 47-year-old admitted, but emphasized, "I wasn't in a relationship when I had a porn addiction, believe it or not, thank goodness."
Things got a little heated when Smith recalled scrolling through the then-11-year-old Willow's Tumblr page, who warned that the images had nothing to do with her, and stumbling across some "hardcore pornography" inappropriate for a child to see and being profoundly disturbed.
Willow, who is 18, dismissed Tumblr's racy content as "artistic" and told her mother she was "overreacting" because "that stuff" didn't affect her.
The articulate teen said her connections with people like her parents and friends enabled her to have a realistic view of pornography.
If you thought the backstage chat was a little TMI, it was a prelude for what was to come on the program. At least this is a family that holds nothing back.
Once the program started, Smith elaborated further about her not-so-secret anymore secret.
"I actually feel like I was using 'addiction' a little lightly. And maybe I'll say now that I had an unhealthy relationship to porn at one point in my life where I was trying to practice abstinence."
You can watch the whole Red Table Talks interview streamed on Facebook here.
Even the grand matriarch admitted she was not one to cast judgment on others who watch porn. "It's been beneficial for me too," she said, as a bewildered teen tucked her chin and responded, "Has it?"
Grandma had needs too, Willow.
"I grew up in a household that created a lot of shame. Which is so interesting because it wasn't like that for you (Pinkett Smith) but it was like that for me."
Smith asked her grandmother if porn helped break the shame, and Norris said "There's something about that that was so freeing" but added that it was also a time where she realized she really needed "good girlfriends."
Willow asked her mother if her early porn fixation came from an emotional place, and Smith yes it did.
"It was actually filling an emptiness, at least you think it is. But it's actually not."
"It gives you false expectations as far as sexual interaction...But it could create an unrealistic expectation."
The subject remains to taboo.
While some praised the open discussion on porn addiction, others saw it as being awkward hearing it discussed between different generations of the Smith women.
Not everyone thought the discussion was awkward.
Nothing like a candid conversation with family about porn to start an interview.
@WhiteHouse/X
