When it comes to being vulnerable and baring your soul to the world in the face of harsh criticism, Jada Pinkett Smith knows what it feels like first-hand.
So, it’s no surprise that – just two months after her candid Red Table Talk chat with Will Smith about their marriage – she’s facing those issues head on.
In the Sept. 28 season premiere of the show, Jada, her daughter Willow Smith and mom, Gammy, sit down with podcast queen and author, Brené Brown to talk about shame, guilt, fear and self-doubt.
“Vulnerability is not weakness. It’s the courage to show up and be real when you can’t control the outcome of what people think,” Brené says in the EXCLUSIVE preview clip below.
The bestselling author then goes on to share one of her powerful mottos that immediately resonates with all three women at the table, especially Jada. “And then the one that… I think really set me free in almost a dangerous way, but I really love it is, ‘If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I am not interested in your feedback,’” Brené says. Jada, 49, erupts into a cheer, saying, “That part. That part right there.”
In the clip the actress doesn’t expand upon why that motto resonates with her so much, but fans and critics alike will remember that over the summer both she and her marriage to 52-year-old Will Smith were under intense scrutiny. Days after August Alsina revealed in a June interview with Angela Yee that he had a relationship with Jada, the Smiths took to the red table to discuss speculation about their marriage and alleged infidelity. Ultimately the actress clarified that she had an “entanglement” with August when she and Will had privately, briefly, split.
It’s just one of a host of Red Table Talk episodes that have garnered headlines, including Jordyn Woods’ interview addressing rumors that she kissed NBA star Tristan Thompson, the on-off boyfriend of Khloe Kardashian, her now ex-BFF Kylie Jenner’s sister.
Brené – who hosts the hit podcast Unlocking Us with Brené Brown – applauded Jada, Willow and her mom, Adrienne Banfield Norris, for the way they handle such sensitive issues.
“I knew early on in my work that vulnerability was the birthplace of courage. I knew that courage didn’t exist without it,” she tells the women in the Facebook Watch trailer of the premiere, above. “And so when you think about what y’all do at Red Table Talk – uncertain, you don’t know the way the conversation’s gonna go, totally risk, and emotional exposure.”
“Hell yeah,” Jada responds, before adding, “Let me tell you. I’ll tell you, Brené, we definitely be trying to practice some vulnerability over here.”
Red Table Talk returns to Facebook Watch with its season premiere on Monday Sept. 28 at 12pm ET / 9am PT.