FEUD OF THE DAY

Gabrielle Union and Jada Pinkett Smith Apparently Had a 17-Year Secret Feud, But It’s Over Now

Neither could remember how the feud even started.


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Allow Jada Pinkett Smith to demonstrate the most dignified way to start, maintain, and end a long-term celebrity feud: This week, while promoting her upcoming Facebook Watch talk show, the actress disclosed for the first time that she and Gabrielle Union haven’t been on speaking terms for nearly two decades. In the same breath, before fans could fully process this reveal, Pinkett Smith shared that this secret feud had recently been resolved—without it ever making headlines or damaging either actress’s reputation in any way. According to the 46-year-old, the resolution came about when the producers of her new show, Red Table Talk, insisted that she bring Union on the program.

“I have a really touching episode with Gabrielle Union. We haven’t really been on the best of terms for 17 years, and we have a reconciliation,” Pinkett Smith told Extra on Thursday, adding that neither she nor Union could “even remember why” the feud started in the first place. “They were like, ‘We wanna do a girlfriends show,’ and I was like, ‘Well… .’ [But] her name just kept coming up. It just couldn’t be anything else,” Pinkett Smith said of how she somewhat reluctantly agreed to do an episode with Union. “So we brought [the feud] to the table.”

Actresses Gabrielle Union, Taraji P. Henson, Loretta Devine, Tika Sumpter, and Jada Pinkett Smith attend the 47th NAACP Image Awards presented by TV One at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 5, 2016 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards)

Charley Gallay

Union’s episode of the show won’t be the only one where Pinkett Smith and her cohosts—mom Adrienne Banfield-Norris and daughter Willow Smith—hash out some drama. Pinkett Smith told Extra that the first episode of the show, airing next Monday (May 7) and honoring Mother’s Day, will feature her husband Will Smith‘s first wife, Sheree Zampino, with whom he shares 25-year-old son Trey. “When we get to the red table, you hear about the stuff that didn’t go so well!” Pinkett Smith said. “We talk about our 23 years together in this thing called family.”

The Girls Trip star’s Facebook Watch show will air on the social media site’s video-sharing platform for 10 episodes and feature Pinkett Smith, Banfield-Norris, and 17-year-old Willow engaging in “a series of candid conversations with family and friends,” according to the site. “Red Table Talk is about raw truth, love, and deep passion. My mother is old school, Willow is new school, and I find myself right in the middle,” Pinkett Smith told People earlier this year. “I’ve done a lot of sharing and growing on Facebook. Being able to engage with the Facebook Watch community in such a deeply personal way is amazing, and I’m excited to be part of something new.”

Jada Pinkett Smith’s Ever-Changing Hairstyles, From Blonde Pixies to Sleek Bobs

Arriving at the Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight Hollywood premiere in 1995, Jada Pinkett wears her blonde pixie cut with a satin mauve lip.

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Attending The Nutty Professor premiere in 1996 alongside actor Will Smith, Pinkett wears her dark brunette pixie cut with a glossy red lip.

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At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards in 1999, Pinkett Smith pairs her golden smokey eye with her satin gold head wrap.

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At the Collateral film premiere in Berlin in 2001, Pinkett Smith wears a sleek high pony with a glossy, mauve lip.

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Side-parted tousled waves with a dramatic smokey eye was the look Pinkett Smith wore at the 33rd Annual American Music Awards in 2005.

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Wearing her shoulder length voluminous curls with bangs and hint of blush on the cheeks, Pinkett Smith attends the I am Legend premiere in 2007.

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At the 2009 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Pinkett Smith opts for long braids and luminous skin with a natural lip.

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Wearing her hair in a sleek, twisted up do with a soft golden smokey eye, Pinkett Smith attends the 2010 American Music Awards.

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Channeling Diana Ross with her voluminous, brushed out curls, Pinkett Smith attends the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011.

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At the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, Pinkett Smith wears long locks slicked back with a glossy, pink lip.

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Pinkett Smith debuts her blonde highlighted bob with luminous skin at the FOX 2014 Programming Presentation.

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Pinkett Smith radiates at the 2nd Annual Diamond Ball 2015, wearing her hair in an elegant up do with a glossy, red lip.

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Back to her long hair, Pinkett Smith wears her locks in a sleek half up do at the 26th annual EMA Awards.

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At the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards in 2016, Pinkett Smith returns to her sleek bob that she pairs with a jade green smokey eye.

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Promoting her new film Girls Trip, Pinkett Smith opts for her side-parted soft waves with a glossy, coral pink lip,

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