Will Smith Discusses His 'Raging Jealousy' of Tupac in New Memoir 'Will'
“I hated that I wasn’t what he was.”
Will Smith has unpacked his previous sentiments of jealousy toward Tupac in his new memoir, Will. In the book, the actor explains that he felt “tortured” by the Tupac’s close relationship with his now-wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who the renowned rapper first met at the Baltimore School for the Arts in the 1980s.
“Though they were never intimate, their love for each other is legendary – they defined ‘ride or die,’” he writes. “In the beginning of our relationship, my mind was tortured by their connection. He was PAC! And I was me.”
He goes on to say that Tupac possessed a “fearless passion” that he describes as “intoxicating” and a “willingness to fight and die for what he believed was right.”
“Pac was like Harry [Will Smith’s younger brother] – he triggered the perception of myself as a coward,” Smith continues. “I hated that I wasn’t what he was in the world, and I suffered a raging jealousy: I wanted Jada to look at me like that.”
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor then admits that he experienced a “twisted kind of victory” when Pinkett Smith chose him over Tupac.
“If she chose me over Tupac, there was no way I could be a coward,” Smith writes. “I have rarely felt more validated… I was in a room with Tupac on multiple occasions, but I never spoke to him. The way Jada loved Pac rendered me incapable of being friends with him. I was too immature.”
Will, which was released globally on Tuesday, November 9, is available to shop on the book’s website.
Elsewhere, Tom Hanks’ Cast Away volleyball sells for $311,000 USD at auction.
