Being Married To Will Smith Put Jada Pinkett In The Throes Of Pay Disparity

Jada Pinkett Smith is applauding Taraji P. Henson and citing the lowball offers she's received for being married to Will Smith.

Jada Pinkett Smith is applauding Taraji P. Henson for addressing the pay disparities in Hollywood and citing the lowball offers she’s received for being married to Will Smith.

The “Red Table Talk” host appeared on NPR’s “It’s Been A Minute” podcast where she explained why she “absolutely” agrees with Henson’s emotional reveal about the inequality Black women face in Hollywood.

“My heart broke for Taraji, and I was also happy [to see] how courageous she was to speak about it in the way that she did,” Jada said.

She acknowledged the families that stars like Henson have to support and many others who depend on Black breadwinners to “carry” them financially as a result of their success. Pinkett Smith also faces pay disparities in Hollywood and has even been offered less because of her mega-superstar husband.

“Yes, people would literally say, ‘Well, you don’t need it. You’re married to Will [Smith],'” she revealed.

It’s partially why Pinkett Smith has started to transition to roles behind the camera and not act as much as she used to.

“That has a lot to do with it and also wanting to get on the other side to help remedy that as a producer,” she shared.

While Pinkett Smith hasn’t given up on her acting career entirely, she does enjoy the control she has a producer over being an actress.

“It’s not to say that I won’t get in front of the camera, but what it takes for me to get in front of the camera, it’s more,” she explained. “Just in regards to the kind of roles that I want to play or that interest me. And I’m thinking about directing.”

Henson went viral during her press run for “The Color Purple” in December when she broke down in tears while discussing the struggles she’s faced as a Black woman in Hollywood.

“I’ve been getting paid and I’ve been fighting tooth and nail every project to get that same freaking [fee] quote,” she said with tears in her eyes. “And it’s a slap in the face when people go, ‘Oh girl, you work all the time. You always working.’ Well, goddammit, I have to. It’s not because I wish I could do two movies a year and that’s that. I have to work because the math ain’t mathing. And I have bills.”

Taraji P. Henson opens up about being underpaid in Hollywood.pic.twitter.com/vIZAev1cth
— Complex (@Complex) December 20, 2023