‘The entanglement’ to Demi Moore’s drug use: 10 most dramatic moments on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk

Red Table Talk, the chat show hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, her mother Adrienne Banfield Norris, and her daughter Willow Smith, is back for a fifth season.

The show returns less than a month after the drama-filled Oscars ceremony (27 March) where Jada’s husband, actor Will Smith, slapped presenter Chris Rock in the face.

This season promises to show emotional conversations with eight-time Grammy nominee Janelle Monáe, Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger and her daughter Ireland Baldwin, the parents of Miss USA Cheslie Kryst who died by suicide earlier this year, and the victims of the Tinder Swindler.

Over its 100 episodes and one billion views, the Facebook Watch series has featured poignant interviews with stars such as Demi Moore and Matthew McConaughey, as well as members of the Smith family themselves. Topics of discussion have included substance abuse, sexuality, depression, and relationship troubles.

We’ve rounded up some of the show’s most dramatic moments ahead of its return to the social media platform on Wednesday (20 April).

Jada interviewing Will’s ex-wife Sheree Zampino – season one, episode one

Jada proved from the off that Red Table Talk would not shy away from difficult conversations, by speaking to her husband’s ex-wife for the premiere.

The host expressed regret for dating Will when he was still married to Zampino, saying: “Because I did not understand marriage, I did not understand divorce. I probably should have fell back.”

Zampino responded, “You think?”

Jada saying she learned about masturbation from her grandmother – season one, episode six

“My grandmother taught me about self-pleasuring because she wanted me to know that that pleasure was from me,” the Matrix star said in the 2018 episode.

“She didn’t want me to fall into the hands of a man, and if he gave me pleasure, to think that that was him. And she taught me at [aged] nine!”

Jada went on to say she became addicted to masturbation: “You get addicted ‘cause you can create so much pleasure. You just constantly want it.”

Jordyn Woods breaking down in tears discussing her cheating scandal with Tristan Thompson – season one, episode 27

Woods appeared on Red Table Talk to discuss the public scandal around her kiss with NBA player Tristan Thompson – Khloé Kardashian’s then-boyfriend and the father of her daughter, True.

Woods’ father John was a sound engineer on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and their families have been longtime friends.

During the chat, Woods denied giving Thompson a lap dance – as some outlets reported – and sid that she kissed him with “no tongue” and “no passion”.

The day the episode went live, Kardashian lashed out at Woods over Twitter. “Why are you lying @jordynwoods?” she tweeted.

“If you’re going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story. BTW, You ARE the reason my family broke up!”

Kardashian was heavily criticised by fans for blaming Woods and not Thompson for the scandal.

Jada speaking to a couples therapist about “betrayals of the heart” she’s faced – season two, episode six

Jada addressed rumours of infidelity in her marriage to Will in a 2019 episode of the series while speaking to “world-renowned couples therapist” Esther Perel.

While Jada denied that there had been infidelity in their relationship, she said “there have been other betrayals of the heart that have been far bigger than I could even think in regards to an infidelity situation”.

Demi Moore’s daughters speaking about their mother’s battle with drug and alcohol addiction – season two, episode 17

Demi Moore and her daughters Rumer and Tallulah Willis (who she shares with husband Bruce Willis) sat down at the Red Table in 2019 and spoke about Moore’s battle with sobriety.

The Ghost actor managed to stay sober for nearly 20 years. However, following her split from third husband Ashton Kutcher in 2012, Moore relapsed, turning to alcohol and Vicodin.

“I was there in the other room with 911, panicking,” Rumer said. “Because I’m like, ‘All right, either my mom’s going to die and I’m not going to be in the room, and I’m going to feel the guilt of that for the rest of my life, or I’m going to be there and see this image of my mom that I will never get out of my head, so what do I do?

“Or I’m going to have to call my sisters in the morning and tell them that my mom died and they’re never going to talk to her again.’”

Jada and Will discussing her “entanglement” – season three, episode 12

Will and Jada took to the Red Table to discuss speculation about their marriage after singer August Alsina claimed to have had Will’s “blessing” to begin a relationship with Jada after the pair met in 2015.

Jada confirmed that the relationship had happened, infamously referring to it as an “entanglement” in the episode, but stipulated that she and Will had separated and were “over” at the time.

She denied the detail of Alsina’s account about her husband giving “permission”. “The only person who could give permission in that particular circumstance was myself,” she said.

Matthew McConaughey opening up about not speaking to his mum for eight years – season three, episode 19

McConaughey joined the Red Table virtually while promoting his memoir, Greenlights. The Interstellar star got candid about the breakdown in his relationship with his mother, which occurred after his rise to fame with the 1996 film A Time to Kill.

McConaughey, who was joined on the show by his 90-year-old mother, Kay, said that she did handle his sudden celebrity well, taking the opportunity to inform the press about his life.

“I was trying to find my own balance with fame and stuff. And I would share things with her, and…some of those things I would share might show up in the six o’clock news three days later.… I was not able to talk to her as my mom for about eight years,” he said.

Norris having little sympathy for Olivia Jade, who was at the centre of the college admissions scandal – season three, episode 23

Olivia Jade Giannulli – daughter of actor Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli – appeared on the show to break her silence after her parents were found guilty of using illegal methods to ensure their children were accepted into prestigious colleges.

However, Norris said she fought “tooth and nail” to stop the interview from happening, calling it “the epitome of white privilege”.

During the interview, Norris told Giannulli: “There is so much devastation, particularly this year, 2020, with the pandemic and everything being brought to the table. There’s so much inequality and inequity that when you [Giannulli] come to the table with something like this, it’s like, ‘Child, please.’”

Norris added: “I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted with everything that we have to deal with as a community and I just don’t have the energy to put into the fact that you lost your [brand] endorsements.”

Jada opening up about her alcohol and substance abuse – season four, episode 13

Jada told her mother and daughter that she was “a hard liquor drinker” from an early age in this episode.

“Drinking red wine for me was like drinking glasses of water,” she shared, adding that when she moved to LA, she started doing “cocktails” of ecstasy, alcohol and weed.

The actor said she began the path to recovery while filming The Nutty Professor in 1996 after passing out on set after taking a bad batch of ecstasy. “I told everybody that I must have had old medication in a vitamin bottle. But I’ll tell you what I did, though. I got my ass together and got on that set. That was the last time,” she said.

Sandra Bullock recalling how a home invasion in 2014 changed her life – season four, episode 22

The 57-year-old actor revealed that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a home invasion that took place seven years ago.

“I’m in the closet going, ‘This doesn’t end well’,” Bullock said while recalling how an unarmed intruder broke into her Los Angeles home. “I wasn’t the same after that. I was unraveling.”

Red Table Talk returns to Facebook Watch on Wednesday, 20 April at 5pm BST.