The difference in Jada Pinkett Smith's 2020 Red Table Talk apology vs her 2023 promotion tour is wild once you time the pauses

In 2020 she took 4 seconds between sentences and looked down 3 times per minute, but in 2023 she barely paused at all and stared straight into the lens for a full 8 seconds straight, which tells me the first one was real grief and the second was rehearsed damage control - has anyone else noticed that shift in pacing across different types of apologies?

3 comments

3 Comments

miasanchez25d ago

The 8 second stare is the biggest giveaway actually. I watched that segment twice to make sure I wasn't crazy, and her blink rate drops to almost nothing during that part. Like, human beings naturally blink when processing grief or even just thinking about what to say next, so that total lack of blinking feels like she was counting down in her head. Did you notice if her hands did anything different between the two interviews? Because I remember in the 2020 one she kept touching her necklace and rubbing her thumb against her fingers, but in 2023 her hands just stayed dead still on the table the whole time.

pat_roberts5525d ago

Wait, did you catch that she didn't even adjust her posture at all during the whole 2023 interview? That's what gets me, because in 2020 she was shifting around every couple minutes like a normal person... I swear I watched her shoulders and they literally did not move for like four straight minutes. I feel kind of bad for her honestly, it's like someone coached the life right out of her and told her to hold still like a mannequin. The blink thing is creepy too, but the total stillness is what makes my skin crawl a bit.

dylan46325d ago

The 8 second stare is wild because that's legit longer than most people hold eye contact with their own reflection. @miasanchez you're spot on about the hands thing, in 2020 she was basically fidgeting like I do when I'm trying to hold a plank for one more minute and failing. In 2023 her hands were so still they could have been glued down, which feels like someone told her 'don't touch your face' in media training. The blink rate drop is the dead giveaway though, I've done enough phone videos to know nobody stares that hard without counting.