She’s 69 years young, 30 years sober, and four marriages in. You may only know Adrienne
Banfield-Norris as Jada Pinkett-Smith’s mom, but there’s more behind this Smith family member!
The age gap between Jada Pinkett Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris
isn't large. Banfield-Norris had Pinkett Smith when she was just 17 years old.
According to an episode of "Red Table Talk" dubbed "The Invisible Black Women Epidemic,"
Banfield-Norris faced discrimination during her delivery. Even though her father was a
senior doctor at the facility, even that didn’t protect her from victimization.
Her pain was downplayed by those tending to her. Nevertheless,
Banfield-Norris had to be there for Pinkett Smith, a task that wasn't easy. Parenting
at such a young age was a nightmare for the new mom, as she revealed on Red Table Talk, saying:
"They were the worst years of my life." "Wow." "Worst years of my life."
"Why?"
"Because I was just so confused."
Because of this difficulty, Banfield-Norris and Pinkett Smith did not have a close relationship,
and in fact had one devoid of touch. Pinkett Smith instead
found comfort in her grandmother. Unfortunately, when she was 13,
her grandmother died. Pinkett Smith then shared she had to re-raise herself, revealing:
Adrienne Banfield-Norris' woes didn’t end at parenting Jada Pinkett Smith as a
teenager. She equally had to endure an abusive relationship with Pinkett Smith's own father.
"I knew that my mother and my father had a very violent relationship."
The sit-down about their relationship was one of the most requested topics for
the "Red Table Talk" women at the time of shooting. It was also significant,
because it'd be the first time Willow Smith heard these stories about her grandfather.
Asked what was the worst incident she experienced at the hands of
Robsol Pinkett Jr., Adrienne Banfield-Norris said:
"Oh! There was so many."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, like, I have a scar on my back now."
The mark, according to Pinkett Smith, was from when her father threw Banfield-Norris
over a banister. These acts of violence often happened when Pinkett Jr. was intoxicated.
Ironically, Banfield-Norris’ mother worked as a social worker and had
told her to stay away from Pinkett Jr. during their first meeting. When the
beating worsened and Banfield-Norris finally had enough, she ran away to save her life.
Prior to being a familiar face on "Red Table Talk," Adrienne Banfield-Norris
was a practicing nurse. She had graduated top of her class from Coppin State University and
worked her way through the profession for a solid 35 years, per The New York Times.
But on "Red Table Talk," she was thrust into unfamiliar territory. It definitely
changed her life, starting with its conception way back in 2013,
when the first video was unofficially posted on YouTube. The show's official
pilot episode, which aired in 2018, was an in-depth exploration of motherhood.
Jada Pinkett Smith thought highly of her mother's
career shift. As she said in an interview with Harper's Bazaar:
Banfield-Norris validated Pinkett Smith's sentiments during a 2018 episode of "Red
Table Talk," mentioning that the platform allowed her to explore her own internal self more easily.
She continues to grow a massive social media following, to the tune of over half a million
on Instagram, and has gone on to find her own voice through her "Positively Gam" podcast.
In a talk with best-selling author Michael Pollan,
Adrienne Banfield-Norris opened up about her struggle with self-acceptance. As an adult,
she had to deeply reflect on why she constantly didn't feel good enough.
It had nothing to do with her childhood or upbringing, she explained on her podcast
"Positively Gam, rather, she felt it was innate to who she was as a
person. Banfield-Norris brought to light that confidence wasn't her strongest suit, saying:
"I had very low self-esteem, and very insecure. I didn't do anything that my sister didn't do."
This kind of thinking often prevented her from moving forward,
so much that she felt dwarfed at "Red Table Talk."
Being at the table with her daughter and granddaughter,
who are so articulate in front of the camera,
only heightened her levels of insecurity, adding in another episode of her podcast:
"Sometimes I'm sitting at the table and I actually shrink. Right? And I
can't find my voice. I can't find my words to fit into the conversation."
Being ushered into the limelight meant that Adrienne Banfield-Norris' private
life would undergo a drastic change. All of a sudden,
the genuineness of the people around her became questionable.
By virtue of being Jada Pinkett Smith's mother and a regular on the Emmy award-winning show
"Red Table Talk," she attracted all sorts of people from all walks of life. Unfortunately,
some of them didn't have the best of intentions, as she shared on "Red Table Talk:
"Even for me as an adult, you know,
you want to believe that people want to be your friend because they like you."
Similarly, Banfield-Norris' granddaughter, Willow Smith,
was vocal about the challenges of being famous, including a stalking experience
she faced that lasted a number of years and resulted in a break-in.
As such, Banfield-Norris and her family take the enforcement of boundaries seriously, with fans and
strangers alike. In fact, they take security so seriously that when a drone was spotted at
the Smiths' residence in March 2022, the Los Angeles Police Department swung into action.
While Jada Pinkett Smith and Willow Smith tend to bring a more modern approach to "Red
Table Talk," Adrienne Banfield-Norris has always kept a reserved demeanor,
although she tries to have an open mind.
During an episode titled "Why Are Women Mean To
Each Other?" Banfield-Norris admitted to having a level of bias, saying:
"That’s where a lot of the judgment comes from. The judgment comes from insecurity yes,
but it also comes with this false thinking that I have in my head that my way is right."
At the table, a number of uncomfortable topics have come up in the past,
many of which Banfield-Norris has had a tough time navigating. When Willow opened up about
adopting a polyamorous lifestyle in 2021, her grandmother took a tolerant approach.
Later in the episode, however, when polyamory activist Gabrielle Smith came to the table,
Banfield-Norris said she found the concept confusing.
Her more conservative nature was further tested when sex was discussed on "Red
Table Talk." She expressed her desire to leave Willow out of the discussion,
but Pinkett Smith overruled her. Banfield-Norris expressed:
"I'm gonna pray on it."
"God help us all."
Adrienne Banfield-Norris once revealed on "Red Table Talk" that for most of her
daughter's childhood, she was a heroin addict. Her daughter, Jada Pinkett-Smith
wasn’t blind to it all either. Pinkett-Smith revealed it all on "Red Table Talk, saying:
"I could tell when my mother was high."
"She's nodding off, falling asleep in the middle of something. You just realize,
oh that's not being tired. That is like, a drug problem."
As of now according to The New York Times, Banfield-Norris is making up for lost time.
She bought a home in Los Angeles, California, with her fourth husband, Rodney Norris.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Banfield-Norris has also spent her
days staying fit and working on her continued sobriety by meeting with sobriety groups online.
Banfield-Norris' active lifestyle is splashed all over her Instagram account. During a Smith family
intervention on "Red Table Talk," the doctor's analysis showed that Banfield-Norris was, in fact,
one of the healthiest amongst the family, so much that he thought her age was a typo.
Having been vocal about her journey to get clean, she paused to reflect,
and let her followers in on her journey with a reflective video on Instagram:
"I've spent so many years in that insanity of active addiction, running in and out,
and just that revolving door — you know — trying to get my life back together."
While Banfield-Norris has been sober since the '90s the strain on her relationship with
her daughter remains. In an interview with The New York Times, Banfield-Norris shared:
In her own life, Banfield-Norris intentionally opted to stay as
far away from baby mama drama as she could, disclosing on "Red Table Talk:
"I've not had to deal with it because I purposely, purposely dated men that did not have children."
Despite her lack of baby drama, Adrienne Banfield-Norris is pretty
experienced with marriage. She first tied the knot with Robsol Pinkett,
Jr. when she was in high school. The union was a result of the strictness
of her traditional family. As she explained to Dear Media Studio in a 2021 interview:
"That marriage lasted for about a year."
Her second marriage began when Jada Pinkett Smith was 8 years old. After four years,
however, the couple called it a day. While her third marriage took off at the onset
of her recovery journey and was her longest lasting, it didn’t last forever. After 20 years,
it’d taken a turn for the worse. She added to Dear Media Studio:
"I was unhappy in the marriage. And I just really started thinking that 'You know,
I have more years behind me than I do in front of me, and I gotta be happy.'"
Now when it comes to her fourth and current marriage? It goes way back. The love story
between Rodney Norris and Banfield-Norris goes back to 30 years to be specific.
The pair had dated when they were younger, but weren't in the right mindset to make it work.
"When we came back together some thirty years later,
she was a totally different person, and I was too."
That definitely seems to be the case, and the loved-up couple appears to
be plenty happy together, sharing their affection for one another on social media.