2Pac and Jada Pinkett-Smith‘s much-publicized friendship began in their early teens, and their “intense bond” has now been detailed by Dear Mama director Allen Hughes.
During an interview with VLAD TV, the famed director sat down with the host to discuss just how deep their relationship was.
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According to Hughes, there was one particular incident involving the “California Love” rapper and Smith that stood out. Smith had been tapped to portray Ronnie, the love interest of Caine, the lead male character in his and his brother Albert’s 1993 film, Menace II Society.
Hughes claimed that during the first day of rehearsal, ‘Pac showed up, and while he’s not sure “which one ran to who,” it was as if the “seas [had] parted.”
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“He threw her in the air like a rag doll, and he just kept catching her…” he said. After that, they shared a deep, passionate embrace reminiscent of Gone with the Wind‘s lead characters, Hughes said.
In any case, he made sure to clarify it was not sexual in any way, just a close, close friendship: “…They weren’t tongue kissing, but it was just in the rapture of love.”
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He continued: “Keep in mind again, no one knows about Baltimore School of Arts…no one knows they ever knew each other, so everyone was just mystified at the intense bond they had.”
Check out Hughes’ interview with DJ Vlad below:
Despite his origins in New York, 2Pac settled with his mother and siblings in Baltimore for several years in the early ’80s, and it was while attending the Baltimore School of Arts that he befriended Smith.
Though it’s been over two decades since the West Coast pioneer passed away, Smith has continued to gush about him and remember their deep bond.
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In 2021, on what would’ve been his 50th birthday, she shared one of the many poems he had written for her.
Prior to that, during an interview with MTV in 2019, she admitted that ‘Pac was never far from her thoughts. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about ‘Pac,” she said. “I think about him every single day.”
It wasn’t always rosy, however. In his self-titled memoir, Will Smith confessed to his raging jealousy of the rapper.
“Though they were never intimate, their love for each other is legendary – they defined ‘ride or die,’” he wrote in the book. “In the beginning of our relationship, my mind was tortured by their connection. He was PAC! and I was me.”
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He continued: “’Pac was like Harry [Smith’s younger brother] – he triggered the perception of myself as a coward. I hated that I wasn’t what he was in the world, and I suffered a raging jealousy: I wanted Jada to look at me like that.”
