Jada Pinkett Smith: Jordyn Woods Turned to Red Table Talk As 'Only Safe Place' to Address Scandal

Elizabeth Leonard

After Jordyn Woods got caught up in the Tristan Thompson cheating scandal earlier this year, the 21-year-old model felt she had only one place to turn to tell her side of the bombshell story: Red Table Talk, the hit Facebook Watch show hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow and mom Adrienne.

“Jordyn really felt like it was the only safe place that she could do that interview,” Jada tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story, in which she, Willow and Adrienne discuss their family’s bond.

“It actually wasn’t something I wanted to do because it was very close [to home], but as time transpired, Jordyn was just like, ‘I really need you in this platform’ and Will [Smith] felt like it was supremely important. So I was like, okay let’s do it.”

Jordyn Woods and Jada Pinkett Smith on Red Table Talk | Red Table Talk
Jordyn Woods and Jada Pinkett Smith on Red Table Talk | Red Table Talk

Woods’ father John was a sound engineer on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the Smiths and Woods families have been longtime friends. As Jada said on the March 1 Red Table episode that featured an often-emotional Woods, “I’ve known Jordyn Woods her whole life.”

Watch the full episode of People Cover Story: Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield Norris streaming now on PeopleTV.com, or download the PeopleTV app on your favorite device.

On the show, Woods opened up about the night of her alleged “hook-up” with Thompson — Khloé Kardashian’s ex and the father of her daughter, True — as well as the fallout from the ensuing public scandal. While Woods told Jada the pair shared a kiss, she denied she was “all over him,” as reports claimed.

  • For more about Jada Pinkett Smith and her family, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Will Smith and Jordyn Woods | Jodryn Woods/Instagram
Will Smith and Jordyn Woods | Jodryn Woods/Instagram

RELATED: Jordyn Woods Breaks Her Silence About Tristan Thompson on Red Table Talk: ‘I’m No Homewrecker’

The appearance, which broke records as the most-viewed Facebook Original episode in its first 24 hours, helped humanize Woods and deepen the dialogue about the incident.

“That was my intention honestly,” says Jada. “I just wanted her to have a platform to tell her story. That’s it. She’s a young beautiful woman inside and out and me having been a young girl, we sometimes get in situations that we don’t necessarily know how to handle… You just [try to] help young girls navigate through life, through difficult situations we’ve all come across.”