Hollywood star Jada Pinkett Smith recently talked about her metal music career with Wicked Wisdom in an interview with NPR. Smith recalled the hate she received from a certain part of the metal community due to her appearance. However, she insisted that she still loved to be a part of it. Jada detailed the backlash she received:
“It was really intense. I mean, at that particular time, I don’t know of any other Black female in that particular genre except for [Skin from] Skunk Anansie… I had so many strikes against me. I was a woman, first of all, because even as a white woman, you have a hard time in that job. Then I’m a Black woman. And then I’m a woman from Hollywood, which is the antithesis of rock and roll. I was the representation of the machine itself. There’s a lot of hate out there, for sure. No doubt about it.”
Regardless of the bad memories, the singer chose to remember the good times she had with metal fans. She shared one particular instance:
“But there’s also a lot of love and neutrality. And I’ll never forget going to this place somewhere in Texas, where we were performing in this shack, and these kids, they didn’t care. They were just happy we were there, seeing them having a good [expletive] time, with this Black band. They started moshing and that was it. What I love about the metal community is that you get to rage safely. We got to meet there in our rage and really have a good time with it.”
Jada Pinkett Smith Received Death Threats
At one point, some of the criticism against Smith’s nu-metal band went too far as she confirmed receiving death threats from rock fans. In a 2011 interview with Metro.co.uk, reported by Blabbermouth, Jada talked about the threats toward her and her family. She explained why she chose not to pay attention to them. The singer stated:
“The Ozzfest kids were like, ‘Hell no,’ and I got tons of death threats. I didn’t pay attention to them, Will dealt with it. I just thought it was people on their computers with nothing better do to than spew stupid crap. It got to the point my husband considered, but never did which I respect him for, asking me not to do it.”
Smith insisted that her career wasn’t affected by extreme negative reactions. However, she confirmed her husband Will Smith considered she should have left the band. Regardless of the criticism she received over the years, Jada still enjoyed being a part of the metal community.
You can watch Wicked Wisdom’s performance at the Download Festival in 2006 via YouTube below.
