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'It Was Time to Let Go': Jada Pinkett Smith Debuts a Shaved Head, Inspired by Daughter Willow

After previously disclosing her struggles with hair loss, the 49-year-old Red Table Talk host has opted to go bald.

She get it from her daughterโ€”or, at least, thatโ€™s what Jada Pinkett Smith says in regard to her newly bald head. After wearing her hair cropped for years, the 49-year-old Red Table Talk host and producer debuted a new look on Monday, posting a mother-daughter selfie to Instagram showing off their twinning shorn heads, with the caption:

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Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach
Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach

โ€œWillow made me do it because it was time to let go BUT โ€ฆ my 50โ€™s are bout to be Divinely lit with this shedโฃ๏ธ๐Ÿ˜œโ€

Willowโ€™s own caption was included in the reveal, which read: โ€œ๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ™๐Ÿพa gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return๐Ÿ™๐Ÿพโ€

To whom it was a gift remains in question, but Pinkett Smith was first transparent about her hair loss during Red Table Talkโ€™s first season in 2018, sharing: โ€œIt was terrifying when it first started. I was in the shower one day and had just handfuls of hair in my hands and I was just like, โ€˜Oh my god, am I going bald?โ€™โ€ (h/t People magazine). โ€œIt was one of those times in my life where I was literally shaking in fear. Thatโ€™s why I cut my hair, and why I continue to cut it,โ€ she added.

Though she hasnโ€™t spoken on it much since, Pinkett Smith echoed the concerns of many women struggling with hair loss or alopecia when she admitted: โ€œMy hair has been a big part of me...Taking care of my hair has been a beautiful ritual and having the choice to have hair or not. And then one day to be like, โ€˜Oh my god, I might not have that choice anymore.โ€™โ€

Pinkett Smith has typically worn her hair short in the years since, but also explained that sheโ€™d โ€œgotten every kind of test there is to have,โ€ but to no avail, saying: โ€œThey donโ€™t know why.โ€

Whether or not her new look was an explicit nod to that ordeal remains unknown, but the results are gorgeousโ€”and hopefully, inspiring to other women going through the same.

โ€œI really had to put it into a spiritual perspective, like the higher power takes so much from people,โ€ Pinkett Smith said in 2018. โ€œPeople are out here with cancer. People have sick children. I watch the higher power take things every day,โ€ she continued, explaining that the added perspective โ€œreally did settle me.โ€

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