Director Allen Hughes recently sat down with VLAD TV weeks after the release of his Tupac and Afeni Shakur Dear Mama docuseries on FX. During the interview, Allen Hughes recalled what he calls a “Gone With The Wind” moment between Tupac and Jada Pinkett Smith. A moment that occurred on day one of rehearsals for the movie Menace 2 Society.
The 1993 film directed by the Hughes Brothers was backed by New Line Cinema, thanks to Tupac Shakur who accepted a role in the movie. As noted by Allen Hughes elsewhere in the interview, New Line Cinema would not green light the film unless it featured a platinum recording artist.
Hughes Brothers had already formed a relationship with Tupac during Shakur’s time with Digital Underground and prior to the release of his debut album 2Paclypse Now. The Hughes Brother would go on to shoot Tupac’s very first music video Trapped and his second music video for Brenda’s Got A Baby.
Unfortunately when it came to Menace 2 Society, things did not work out as expected as Tupac was eventually fired from the film. Many factors came into play as both Allen and Tupac had publicly explained their respective sides leading to the fallout and all that transpired after.
In his recent interview with VLAD TV, Allen Hughes shared a jaw dropping moment that occurred prior to their fallout. Hughes went on to recall the very first time Tupac and Jada spotted one another during rehearsals. Jada Pinkett was also casted in the film and portraying the character Ronnie.
“Keep in mind this is before Google. This is before anything. You don’t know what people’s history are,” Allen Hughes explains. “So, Tupac comes to rehearsals and he sees Jada. And I don’t remember which one ran to who.”
“But the seas parted and he threw her in the air like rag doll and he just kept catching her,” Allen Hughes recalled on VLAD TV. “And he threw her in the air and kept catching her. And they did a like Gone With The Wind thing where the hair was blowing. They weren’t kissing, but they were just in a rapture of love and I was like what the f***. And I think everyone was like, ‘What the f*** is going on right now.'”
During the interview clip Vlad inserted a flashback clip of Tyrin Turner who also appeared on Menace 2 Society, where the actor witnessed Jada and Tupac’s close bond first hand. According to the actor the two were wrestling with each other, in a playful manner, nothing more.
According to Hughes, Tupac’s and Jada’s interaction on this particular day shocked everyone. “Keep in mind no one knows about Baltimore School of Arts. Know one knew that they knew each other. So everyone there was just mystified at the intense bond that they had right off the jump,” added Hughes.
More than 30 years after forming their friendship at the Baltimore School of the Performing Arts, the bond between Tupac and Jada is well documented. Their friendship continues to make headlines with many who knew them sharing stories and Jada herself continuously letting the world know how much she misses Tupac, seemingly putting a strain in her marriage with Will Smith who admitted he was jealous of Tupac back in the days.
Appearing on The Breakfast Club back in 2020, Will answered with a “F— yeah” when asked by co-host Charlamagne Tha God if he was ever jealous of Tupac Shakur. “Oh my god, dude. And, that was in the early days. That was a big regret for me too, cause I could never open up to interact with ‘Pac. Cause we had a little bit of a thing, because you know they grew up together and they loved each other, but they never had a sexual relationship,” Will Smith said.
