Jada Pinkett Smith And Gwyneth Paltrow Agree That Porn Is Hurting Women

“Porn has really messed us up in some ways,” said Adrienne Banfield-Jones, Pinkett Smith's mother, who was also on the show.

Pinkett Smith concurred, commenting, "I'm supposed to be there for every whim, every pleasure, it's like, 'whoa, whoa, whoa.’ And the women's pleasure doesn't even matter! It's not even thought about!"

Paltrow also agreed. She said, "And then the other layer which I find really disturbing, is that because of the imagery that comes out and the consciousness that comes out around porn, I feel like girls – young girls – are getting the message that they have to be f**kable. Like, that's the number one priority, right? It's so awful, right, and it's like, it's doing such a disservice."

"It's so weird,” she added. “I don't know, I feel like we're living in a such weird time because we're making all these incredible advances, and then we're going backwards with all these other things." 

This seems to be an about-face for Gwyneth Paltrow, who just this past March, suggested there could be “ethical porn” and wrote in a positive tone about porn on her Goop lifestyle website: “The first time you watch porn that genuinely and deeply arouses you is akin to the moment you have sex with another person and experience an elation that makes you think, ‘Oh, so this is what sex can be.’ If you haven’t checked what’s available in a while, you might be pleasantly surprised.”

She even recommended certain “erotica sites” with porn that’s “shown through the female gaze, made by women, ethically produced – and hot.”

Jada Pinkett Smith, however, has discussed her disapproval of porn before. In a May 2019 episode of Red Table Talk, Pinkett Smith shared how porn was detrimental to her during a period when she was trying to be abstinent and how she learned about its negative effects on sexual intimacy. 

"It was actually, like, filling, like, an emptiness. At least you think it is, but it's actually not," she said. "Actually reading, like, some of the effects of pornography, like the idea that it gives you false expectations as far as sexual interactions, I can definitely see that with men. How a woman should always be willing and ready. She should be ready to have sex however he wants, in any position, anywhere, and you should enjoy it no matter what. And it shouldn't just be joy, but it should be exhilaration. In pornography, you’re never tired. There's never a 'no,' so I can definitely see how that can create an unrealistic expectation."