The new Tupac biopic All Eyez On Me hit theaters late Thursday night, and Pac’s old friend Jada Pinkett Smith is upset about the film’s portrayal of their relationship.
“Forgive me… my relationship to Pac is too precious to me for the scenes in All Eyez On Me to stand as truth,” she tweeted on Friday, apparently after watching the film for herself. She then went on to dispell multiple events and scenarios that the film depicted, describing it as “deeply hurtful.”
“Pac never read me that poem. I didn’t know that poem existed until it was printed in his book,” she began. “Pac never said goodbye to me before leaving for LA. He had to leave abruptly and it wasn’t to pursue his career.”
“I’ve never been to any of Pac’s shows by his request,” she added. “We never had an argument backstage.”
Pinkett Smith made sure to note that she didn’t have any issues with Kat Graham and Demitrius Shipp Jr., the actors who portrayed her and Tupac, respectively.
“Thank you for bringing so much heart and spirit to your roles,” she praised. “You both did a beautiful job with what you were given.”
She then wished a happy birthday to Pac, who would have turned 46 today (June 16).
LT Hutton, the creator and producer of All Eyez On Me, responded to each of Pinket Smith’s points with his own tweets a few hours later. In short, his stance is that they were using creative license to illustrate points in different ways, and to honor one of Pac’s wishes that he never got to fulfill.
“2pac said the worst thing about leaving Baltimore was not being able to say goodbye to you, so we gave him that moment in this film and let the poem be his testament to your true friendship in his own words. A beautiful moment between friends, what he wished he could have,” Hutton rebutted. “And we don’t say he left to pursue a career; he left because the Problum’s [sic] at home. … 2Pac said you were unhappy with what was going on with him at that point in his life, [we] just put that conversation after a show.”
Pinkett Smith and Tupac formed a precious friendship after meeting while they both attended Baltimore School for the Arts, before their careers as star entertainers took off. They stayed close until ‘Pac was killed in Las Vegas in 1996. In 2013, Pinkett Smith used her Instagram page to share a series of photographs of her and Pac together while they were teenagers.
2Pac’s former crew Outlawz portray themselves in the film, but that’s essentially where the praise for All Eyez On Me stops. Along with criticism from stars like Pinkett Smith, critics have also slammed the film, with it receiving a harsh 27% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.