Did Jada Pinkett Really Plead With 2Pac to Not Beat up Will Smith?

Outlawz rapper Napoleon claims Jada Pinkett Smith really asked 2Pac not to beat up Will Smith in a new interview with The Art of Dialogue this week. The nature of Pinkett Smith's relationship with Tupac Shakur has long been the subject of fascination, especially after she shared a never-before-seen poem by Shakur on Instagram to mark what would have been his 50th birthday in June. Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas in 1996. He was 25.

"I remember when I first came around Pac, Jada Pinkett was in a movie — might have been the first movie she ever starred in, with the Wayans brothers," Napoleon said in the interview published Wednesday, notes Complex. Napoleon said Shakur saw the movie and was "focused" on Pinkett Smith's performance. The movie Napoleon is likely referring to is A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994), which starred writer-director Keenan Ivory Wayans.

A couple of days later, Napoleon overhead Shakur talking about Pinkett Smith, explaining that he knew her. "The second time I probably heard him talk about her is when he went to L.A. He was very upset," Napoleon explained. "Pac came in the room and was like, 'Jada, she gonna contact me and tell me don't do nothing to Will Smith.' So Pac was upset and said, 'I don't know why she think I would have tried to make some problems with Will Smith.' I guess it kind of hurt him. He had a lot of love for Jada Pinkett, a lot of respect for her."

Pinkett Smith was close friends with Shakur. During a 2018 episode of Red Table Talk, Pinkett Smith discussed how frustrated she still is about his death at such a young age. "I've had a lot of loss. So many of my close friends gone. They didn't make it to 30. They didn't make it past 25. A lot of people talk about my relationship with Pac and figure that out," she said at the time. "That was a huge loss in my life."

Shakur was "one of those people I expected to be here," Pinkett Smith continued. "My upset is more anger because I feel like he left me. and I know that's not true and it's a very selfish way to think about it… I really did believe he'd be here for the long run. And when I think about it I still get really mad." She later said Shakur "played his role" and "did what he was meant to do." Shakur is an "icon," she said.

Shakur would have celebrated his 50th birthday on June 16. To mark the occasion, Pinkett Smith shared a poem by Shakur that had never been published before. "Tupac Amaru Shakur would have been 50 midnight tonight," Pinkett Smith wrote. "As we prepare to celebrate his legacy... Let's remember him for that which we loved most... his way with words."