The relationship between Tupac Shakur and Jada Pinkett Smith has been well-documented, even more so following the rapper’s tragic murder. Jada and Tupac knew each other from their youth and were close friends who seemed to teeter on the lines of romance. His poetry and letters to her have been made public and the actress has often spoken about their connection.
Another element to their relationship arrived when Will Smith began dating Jada and apparently, neither Will nor Tupac were fans of one another. In his memoir, Will, the actor recalled seething with jealousy.
Smith admitted to feeling a “twisted sense of victory” while dating his wife as if he was able to accomplish something that Tupac was not. He also stated he was “insecure” about their friendship. “The way Jada loved ‘Pac rendered me incapable of being friends with him. I was too immature.”
“In the beginning of our relationship, my mind was tortured by their connection. He was ‘PAC! I was me,” he writes. “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.”
Check out a few nostalgic moments from Jada and Tupac’s friendship below.
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