This week, Jada Pinkett Smith decided not to mind her own Black business, inviting Olivia Jade Giannulli on Red Table Talk (hosted by Jada Pinkett-Smith, her daughter, Willow Smith, and her mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris). Olivia was invited on the show to give an interview about her college admission scandal. Olivia was caught up in a scandal when her parents, Mossimo Giannulli and Lori Loughlin (known for role as Rebecca on Full House), thought instead of their daughters actually using their intelligence to get into college, they would give a “donation” of $500,000 to the Key Worldwide Foundation so that their daughters would be admitted to the University of Southern California under the guise of joining the rowing team. News of the bribe eventually reached the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office. Loughlin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and was sentenced to two months in prison and must pay $150,000 fine. Mossimo Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison, 250 hours of community service and fined $250,000. Please note, as a couple, Loughlin and Giannulli net worth is estimated to be between 70-100 million dollars. They are going to be just fine. It seems White people always allowed to fail forward.
As her parents serve out their sentences, their daughter Olivia felt it was time to speak to the public. Out of ALL the media outlets she could have contacted, she decided coming on a talk show hosted by three Black women was her best option.
When Jada spoke to her mother and daughter about Olivia’s appearance on the show, her mother, Adrienne, showed WISDOM and said, “I fought it tooth and nail. I just found it really ironic that she chose three Black women to reach out to for her redemption story. I feel like here we are, a White woman coming to Black women for support when we don’t get the same from them. It’s bothersome to me on so many levels. Her being here is the epitome of white privilege to me.”
And Jada quickly felt the need to put on her White Savior Entanglement Cape and say, “I understand where you are coming from but let me just be clear. I never want to be the thing that was done to me by White women. I never want to be that.”
Girl, please.
Jada, on your WORST day, you can NEVER be “the thing” White women have been historically and presently to Black women. EVER. And inviting a privileged White woman on Red Table Talk isn’t going to make White women collectively see the light and change their ways.
Jada Pinkett’s mother is right.
THIS AINT OUR DAMN BUSINESS!! And why Jada felt it was her business baffles me. Newsflash, Jada, a rich, attractive, White woman, is ALWAYS going to have a platform. White women are ALWAYS going to be allowed to be the victim. There was no need for Jada to roll out the red (Table) carpet for Olivia to plead her case. There is no need for Black women to be entangled in that scandal.
For 2021, Black women, please mind the business that minds you. As the 2020 election results have SHOWN us (once again), White women are going to continue to do what works BEST for them. And it is long overdue for Black women to do what works BEST for us. Our days of “fixing it” are over!