Each week, the women of the Pinkett Smith family (Jada, Willow, and grandmother Adrienne Banfield Norris) gather together for their Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk. They don’t shy away from addressing controversial or painful topics — for instance, last week Willow discussed her experience with self-harm. On May 21, it was Jada’s turn to open up, as the actress revealed that she is dealing with hair loss.
In Jada’s words, it started with a “terrifying” moment in the shower, where the mother of two discovered that “handfuls of hair” were coming out. Jada said she was “shaking in fear” at this realization. “That’s why I cut my hair and continued to cut it,” she revealed.
While doctors haven’t pinned down a definitive cause for the hair loss yet, Jada believes it might be due to stress. Like it is for so many women, Jada’s hair is important to her, so her alopecia has had a huge impact. “Hair has been such a big part of my life,” she said. “Taking care of my hair has been such a beautiful ritual.”
Luckily, after some time, Jada said she has come to terms with her condition. In an emotional moment of the interview, she said, “The higher power takes so much from people. People have cancer. People’s children are sick. I watch the higher power take things every day, and, by golly, if the higher power wants to take your hair — that’s it?”
Jada has begun to wrap her hair more and used the talk show as a way to show off a turban tutorial. “When my hair is wrapped, I feel like a queen,” she said.
