Adrienne Banfield-Jones has now been sober for 30 years.
Jada Pinkett Smith's mother, Adrienne Banfield-Jones, is hoping her story will help someone else who might be struggling while in quarantine.
Adrienne, who is now 66, has been sober for 30 years, but opens up to her daughter and granddaughter, Willow Smith, about her past drug addiction in Wednesday's Red Table Talk episode titled "Coping With Addiction During COVID-19."
ET's Kevin Frazier video chatted with Jada about what it was like learning about her mother's battle with substance abuse and how she had overdosed more than once. "My mother was just revealing the many times that she had overdosed which I didn't know. I didn't have knowledge of that," she admitted. "The great thing about Gam, and one of the reasons why I wanted to have this episode, is she's in her 30th year of sobriety and she has so much information to offer to those who are struggling right now."
Praising Adrienne, Jada added, "She just has some really veteran, useful tips in regards to how to stay clean, how to stay connected, and what to do. ...It's like I always tell people, 'Never judge the journey you've been on because once you get through on the other side, you're gonna have so much to offer other people who are going through it as you once had."
Jada said her mother wasn't always so open to sharing her story. "I was so proud of Gammy 'cause at one point in her life, she just didn't want to talk about this particular journey," she noted. "I always told her, 'This is so helpful to people [for you] to talk about what you've been through and how you've gotten on the other side.'"
As for how Willow, 19, felt about her grandmother's story of drug abuse, Jada noted, "I think she actually really enjoys hearing those stories and hearing what we've been through because she gets to see who we are on the other side."
Jada also confessed that like many people out there, she is "dealing with old fear patterns" while quarantining.
"I haven't had a drink in a long time but those psychological patterns that once would make me drink or make me look for solace outside myself are creeping back in," she confided. "These times are so uncertain. ...For me, I just had to deepen some of my spiritual practices and deepen my faith."
She added, "I think after this there's just going to be a lot of recalibrating and that's just part of it. Change is never easy. All those concepts and ideas that got us to a place of sobriety are the places we need to return to and hold onto even more fiercely than we have before."
Jada further stressed how important it was for the women to talk about addiction on Red Table Talk, which they film in their home. "We only shoot when we feel like it's something that's needed, and this particular show was a show that was needed," she shared.
Red Table Talk's "Coping With Addiction During COVID-19" episode premieres Wednesday, April 8 at 9 a.m. PT, 12 p.m. ET on Facebook Watch.
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