Jada Pinkett Smith Once Had To Pull Out A Knife To Protect Herself From An Aggressive Ex-Boyfriend

Jada Pinkett Smith has been getting real on a variety of issues on her show Red Table Talk. The actress is joined by her daughter Willow and mother Adrienne as they discuss topics related to relationships, family, and race. On the latest episode, Smith opened up with her own experiences with domestic abuse.

According to People, the 47-year-old actress once feared for her life while in a relationship with a former boyfriend. The Guilt Trip star says she began to feel unsafe when she noticed aggressive tendencies in her partner. The pair had been having dinner at a restaurant and her boyfriend had quite a few drinks. He insisted on driving them both home, when she says he got particularly aggressive in the car. Smith knew she had to get herself out of what could turn into an increasingly dangerous situation so she got out of the car and fled to her house. She recalled the incident to her fellow Red Table Talk hosts.

“He started getting really aggressive in the car. Thank goodness I knew where I was and I knew how to get out of the car and get to the house. I ran to the house. I had to take my clothes off, take off my heels. I always travel with a black Russell hoodie and black Russell sweats. I remember jumping in that sweatsuit, grabbing a big ol’ knife from the kitchen and hiding in his son’s room. I’ll never forget.”

Upon grabbing the knife in case she had to protect herself, she hid from her partner. He then tried to sneak up on her by entering the home through the back sliding glass door. “I heard him. I came out of his son’s bedroom and I was at the bottom of the hallway. I was like, ‘Don’t come near me,'” Smith said. “He said the quintessential line you hear in movies all the time, ‘You think I would hurt you? I would never do that to you.'”

Now Smith feels grateful for Spike Lee’s offer to take part in the 1996 film Girl 6, which would get her away from her violent partner. The movie was an excuse for her to get on a plane and get as far away from her ex-boyfriend as possible. Though she calmed her partner by telling him she’d be back and they would work things out eventually, she knew she would never return.