Jada Pinkett

Low Down Dirty Shame" is a case of Jada in the morning, Jada in the evening, Jada in the summertime. Jada Pinkett is pure sugar and you come away wanting more.The film is actually one of those movies -- "Top Gun" and the job it did for Meg Ryan is another that comes to mind -- in which the nominal star takes a back seat to a secondary performer who literally reinvents herself in front of your eyes. It's a great career move, but for Pinkett rather than writer-director-star Keenen Ivory Wayans.

For weeks the media has feasted on a Jada Pinkett Smith comment that implied she and her husband Will enjoy an open marriage. So she took to Facebook this week to put an end to the feeding frenzy. Or maybe to throw out another bone. "Open marriage?" she wrote.  "Let me first say this, there are far more important things to talk about in regards to what is happening in the world than whether I have an open marriage or not. " True that. But, hey, no harm in chatting about it, just a little, all the same.

To see Jada Pinkett now, you would never believe Jada Pinkett then. Now Miss Pinkett, sitting and smiling under an uncharacteristically cloudy and sunless Riviera sky, wearing a baseball cap and a wool athletic jacket for warmth, is the kind of young woman you'd like your daughter to be: She's smart and beautiful and accomplished, with a ready laugh and a confidence factor that's way off the charts.But now is the afterglow of success at the Cannes International Film Festival, with a starring role in what will be a hot movie, two years on a popular TV show and dozens of guest-starring appearances behind her.Then was a hood called Pimlico in the city of Baltimore, whose streets can be as mean as any walked by man."

Actress and Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith took to Facebook to condemn the media for "bullying" Justin Bieber and other young artists. In something of a treatise under the headline, "Are we bullying our young artists?" Pinkett Smith took the media to task, asking, "How can we ask for our young stars to have a high level of responsibility if we are not demonstrating that same level of responsibility towards them?" "It is as if we have forgotten what it means to be young or even how to behave like good ol' grown folk," she wrote.

"Woo" is the name of a Manhattan femme fatale with a knack for wreaking havoc wherever she places her hot-pink platform heels. She's a diva, a doyenne of the demimonde, a street-wise B.A.P. of the first order.Unfortunately, as played by Jada Pinkett Smith, she also has a mean streak as wide as the East River. And that makes all the difference. The exploitation humor that "Woo" tries for always teeters dangerously on the edge of being out-and-out objectionable.For these types of comedies to succeed, they need a sympathetic leading character to make up for fatuous stories, inane dialogue and puerile humor.

More than 500 people packed Martin's West last night to check out the latest high-fashion production by local designer Travis Winkey and to see one of Baltimore's most famous natives, actress Jada Pinkett, who was in town with television star and friend, actor Will Smith.The fashion show and reception, which attracted eager fans and Baltimore notables alike, was sponsored by Northwest Baltimore Corp., an umbrella organization of more than 60 city neighborhood groups.Proceeds from the event will help fund the organization's adult literacy, day care and other programs, which benefit more than 60,000 residents.

Whether as a street-smart college student in the '90s sitcom A Different World or a tender-hearted bank robber in the 1996 action flick Set It Off, actress Jada Pinkett Smith in the past 15 years has brought a homegirl-up-the-block authenticity to her roles. For about five of those years -- when the performer and her famed husband, Will Smith, weren't having babies or posing for paparazzi at Hollywood red-carpet events -- she's also been trying to win credibility in the music business.

She's got it made on the home front, with two kids and a handsome husband who's one of the most beloved movie stars on the planet. She's got it made professionally, having just opened in a big summer movie alongside Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. And she's got it made when it comes to ambition, having reached a point in her career that allows her to be selective when considering future roles. Certainly, this is a good time to be Jada Pinkett Smith. "Oh, it's a great time to be Jada right now," the 32-year-old actress says.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Rich, powerful, clever and popular as she is, even Madonna has problems, sometimes. Like what to wear to her birthday party. There's the Dolce & Gabbana coat, but Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder and God knows who else have already been photographed in it. An old Versace would do, but it seems so aggressive for a mild August day when the air smells of jasmine and the sky is blue and cloudless. No, an intimate celebration at a restaurant in Los Angeles calls for something elegant, original, very, very cool.

Kyra Sedgwick, Holly Hunter, Angela Lansbury - Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith is about to join some pretty exclusive company when her new weekly TV series, HawthoRNe, debuts Tuesday on TNT. Like those other actresses who made their reputations in feature films, she is coming to TV as both star and executive producer of a series designed to showcase her talents. The trade-off is a simple one: The TV network or cable channel gets a film-caliber star who will attract new viewers, and the star gets a steady paycheck and control of the material in which she appears.

Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband, Will, are expecting Michelle Obama over for lunch -- and some other very fancy guests. The Smiths are opening their home in Calabasas, Calif., on Oct. 25 for an Obama fundraiser that the first lady will attend. Also expected to be there are co-host Salma Hayek and Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter. According to The Hollywood Reporter , it will cost people $2,500 just to get in the door, and $10,000 per couple to have a photo snapped with Michelle Obama.

Jada Pinkett-Smith is inviting the world to listen in on an intimate family conversation with her daughter and her mother. The three generations -- Pinkett-Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Jones -- sat down this year around a round, red table and taped the talk that ensued. They just released the trailer for the short film they made from the discussion which they're calling the "Red Table Talks. " The Baltimore-born actress and her family are calling it "an intimate and honest conversation about love, life, fame, and family.

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith is appealing directly to Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on behalf of elephants. In a letter dated Tuesday, the actress said she was appealing to the mayor "as a mother and proud Baltimore native. " Pinkett Smith wanted to make sure no elephants were jabbed with bullhooks during the upcoming performance of Ringling Bros. Circus' at 1st Mariner Arena. She reminded Rawlings-Blake of the city's law against any “mechanical, electrical, or manualdevice that is likely to cause physical injury or suffering” to a performing animal.

After more than 20 years in TV and feature films, Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith could hardly be blamed if she wanted to slow down and ease back a bit. It seems as if the Baltimore School for the Arts graduate has been working nonstop on the national stage since her breakthrough TV debut in 1991 as a member of the cast of Bill Cosby's hit NBC series, "A Different World. " But at 39, the wife of actor Will Smith and mother of two children — who are already launched on their own show-biz careers — sounds like she is pushing herself harder than ever.

Kyra Sedgwick, Holly Hunter, Angela Lansbury - Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith is about to join some pretty exclusive company when her new weekly TV series, HawthoRNe, debuts Tuesday on TNT. Like those other actresses who made their reputations in feature films, she is coming to TV as both star and executive producer of a series designed to showcase her talents. The trade-off is a simple one: The TV network or cable channel gets a film-caliber star who will attract new viewers, and the star gets a steady paycheck and control of the material in which she appears.

THE ARTS ARE LIKE A MIXED BED OF VEGetables and flowers. Not only are they a delight to the senses, they are chock full of stuff that's good for you. And, by most measures, Maryland in 2006 produced a plentiful harvest.

When actress Jada Pinkett and man-in-black Will Smith tied the knot at the Cloisters estate in Baltimore County last New Year's Eve, the high-profile couple successfully avoided a paparazzi carnival by keeping the location and every other detail, from caterers to corsages, under wraps."

In yesterday's LIVE section, the wrong days were listed for free celebrity readings by actress Jada Pinkett and Dr. Benjamin Carson at the Walters Art Gallery, 600 N. Charles St. Dr. Carson will read to children at 2 p.m. Saturday. Ms. Pinkett will read at 2 p.m. Sunday. Call (410) 547-9000 for information.The Sun regrets the error.Celebrity readingTwo Baltimore celebrities in entertainment and medicine will be sharing their time this weekend with area children. Jada Pinkett, an actress who graduated from the Baltimore School of the Arts and starred in the film "Jason's Lyric," will read to children at 2 p.m. Saturday, and Dr. Benjamin Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, is scheduled to read at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Walters Art Gallery, 600 N. Charles St. The readings, which are part of the gallery's two-month calendar of activities in celebration of black history, will highlight books from the exhibition "Lasting Impressions: Illustrating African-American Children's Books."

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who learned her craft at the Baltimore School for the Arts before launching a successful film and television career, is donating $1 million to a major renovation and expansion campaign at the school, officials announced yesterday. The School for the Arts, considered one of the top public arts high schools in the country, plans to name its new theater the Jada Pinkett Smith Theater. At Pinkett Smith's request, the theater will be dedicated to rapper Tupac Shakur, a former classmate who was shot and killed in 1996.

Whether as a street-smart college student in the '90s sitcom A Different World or a tender-hearted bank robber in the 1996 action flick Set It Off, actress Jada Pinkett Smith in the past 15 years has brought a homegirl-up-the-block authenticity to her roles. For about five of those years -- when the performer and her famed husband, Will Smith, weren't having babies or posing for paparazzi at Hollywood red-carpet events -- she's also been trying to win credibility in the music business.