Inside Jordyn Woods' Deep History With Jaden Smith and His Famous Family

Why Jordyn sitting down with Jada Pinkett-Smith for Red Table Talk isn't as random as it sounds

By Natalie Finn Feb 28, 2019 11:00 AMTags
Watch: Jordyn Woods Is Set to Appear on "Red Table Talk"

Jordyn Woods has shared her side of the story.

Just one more day now until it's everywhere.

The 21-year-old model sat down this week with Jada Pinkett Smith for an episode of the actress' Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk, which will premiere Friday to a rapt audience dying to hear what Jordyn has to say—out loud, in public—about what just went down between her and the Kardashian family.

Though, as multiple reports point out, a non-disclosure agreement she's said to have signed as a member of the Kards' inner circle—someone who's appeared regularly on their TV shows, celebrated milestone events, lived with them and been party to business deals—may have preemptively limited the amount of beans she's able to spill.

Not that a few pesky legal parameters are going to dissuade folks from tuning in.

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Keeping Up With Jordyn Woods

If it seems like quite a leap for Jordyn to be going from the friendship hall of shame to being a guest on Jada's show, which she co-hosts with daughter Willow Smith and mom Adrienne Banfield-Jones—to be sure, it is not.

Jordyn has actually known the Smith family far longer than she's known the Kardashians. It was Jaden Smith, in fact, who brought her and Kylie Jenner together, back when they were barely 14 years old and about to start high school.

Last year, for Jaden's 20th birthday, dad Will Smith posted a throwback photo of his son as a little boy, dressed in Spider-Man pajamas and hanging out with Jordyn.

"Happy Bday, Jaden. 20 Years Old ~ WHOA!" the actor wrote.  "And Wait... I don't know what the big deal was when you wore a White Batman Suit to Prom? You have ALWAYS worn superhero suits on your dates!"

And when Jordyn turned 21 in September, Smith had a photo of himself with baby Jordyn at the ready, too!

"Happy 21st Jordy!" he wrote. "I am proud of All that you Are, and excited by the prospects of what you will Become! Enjoy your next trip around the Sun... it's a special one :)"

Jordyn had shared the same photo on Smith's birthday in 2014, writing, "Happy birthday to a man who has greatly impacted my life. Love you uncle willy."

In 2016, Jaden and Kylie attended a party celebrating the launch of her clothing line collaboration with U.K. company Boohoo, and Jordyn told WWD.com, "A couple of my friends I've known since I was an infant and others I met as a teenager, but we're more of a family now. I don't really consider them 'friends' anymore because they're like family."

That's certainly how Kylie's family saw their relationship, too, until multiple people told Khloe Kardashian that Jordyn had been making out with Tristan Thompson, the father of Khloe's daughter True, at a party on Feb. 17. She didn't want to believe it. Kylie didn't want to believe it. No one wanted to believe it.

Tristan decried a report that he and Khloe had broken up after he cheated on her with Jordyn as "fake news," but then deleted the post. Because they did break up.

Donato Sardella/Getty Images for Boohoo.com

Now Jordyn, who also up until last week was living at one of Kylie's homes and was a fixture in the 21-year-old cosmetics mogul's life, is on the outs with the whole bunch. Sources tell E! News that she has tried repeatedly to apologize to Kylie and Khloe, but the sisters are not interested in any rapprochement at the moment.

Apparently the Smiths are still taking her calls, though. The contents of their recent interview are obviously being kept tightly under wraps until the big reveal, but a source told TMZ that Jada was hoping to "create a healing between Jordyn and Khloe."

The connection between Jordyn and Jaden was first facilitated by their parents, as friendships between toddlers tend to form. Her late father, John Woods, was a TV sound engineer who met Will Smith working on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Jordyn was also a child model (she still has her own momager in mother Elizabeth Woods) and moved with her family to Calabasas, Calif., as a kid. 

Elizabeth was just with daughter Jodie, Jordyn's little sister, at an event for Jaden's animated Netflix series Neo Yokio in December, where they also happily reunited with Will's eldest son, Trey Smith.

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Kylie Jenner and Jordyn Woods' Friendship Through the Years

"Jordyn Is One Of The First People I Ever Met, We've Been Friends Since A Few Days After I Was Born And Always Will Be||| Lexington Lives Through The Spirit Of Sherman Way. Remember This," read a caption on a picture of Jaden that he apparently wrote and posted on Jordyn's Instagram in 2015, their inside-joke game strong.

Michael Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock

In the summer of 2012, Jaden and Kylie were hanging out at her house when he suggested they invite his friend Jordyn over.

"She's known Jaden, like, her whole life, and I met him in middle school," Kylie recalled in a video last summer as they answered fans' Twitter questions. "They were best friends, they still are—whatever." Kylie rolled her eyes and laughed, insisting she was kidding, but that was seemingly a reference to a persistent rumor that Jordyn and Jaden were more than friends.

"You guys told me to come over one day," Jordyn added, "and I was like, OK, 'I don't know them'..."

"Then you put your name in my phone with a purple heart," Kylie said, "and I still have the purple heart in my phone."

Two years after that first meeting, Kylie, Jordyn and Jaden (in a Batman costume this time) were having a ball at Kim Karadshian and Kanye West's wedding in Italy.

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Kim Kardashian & Kanye West's Wedding Album

And Jaden and Jordyn have indeed remained best-friends-or-whatever.

In 2017 she accompanied her Louis Vuitton model pal to the French fashion house's show at the Louvre during Paris Fashion Week, and Vogue applauded her style as much as Jaden's already vaunted looks, naming her a fashion girl to watch in the process.

When Jaden turned 20 last July, Jordyn also dipped into the baby pics, writing on Instagram, "All these years and we're closer than ever still. no longer teens.. @c.syresmith 20!!! This is only the beginning. Happy birthday my guy forever and always."

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SECNDNTURE

In August, Kylie and Jaden showed up to support Jordyn at the launch of her first active-wear line, SECNDNTURE.

And though some might say that three's a crowd, Kylie, Jordyn and Jaden never seemed to have to deal with any jealousy or FOMO, or any of the other unpleasant occurrences that sometimes plague normal people who aren't generally taking trips to Fashion Week or living that private jet life.

Even the birth of Kylie's daughter, Stormi Webster, in February 2018—before which Jordyn was one of the people trusted with not saying a word publicly about Kylie's pregnancy—only brought them closer together. 

"I think it just has gotten better," Jordyn told E! News about their relationship in August. "It is a part of life and the process of growing up. I think it has been really great with her around now. Stormi is so sweet and so beautiful. I love hanging out with her all day."

Instagram

In 2016, with her modeling career heating up and her number of Instagram followers on the rise, Jordyn told Refinery29, "I like to think that my life's pretty normal, but I guess according to other people, it's not. But this lifestyle is pretty normal for me.

"I wouldn't say I'm famous or that I'm known for anything really, except for being around people who are; that's awesome, but it also puts me in a weird position, because I never want to just be known as someone's friend."

"I want to have my own lane and do my own things," she added. "I wouldn't change anything for the world, but I do think it's my time to just do me and not live in someone's shadow. I don't necessarily want to be in the spotlight, I just want to be successful in whatever it is I decide to do." 

And she has been very successful, but having two famous friends with 138.1 million Instagram followers between them (127 million of them Kylie's), certainly hasn't hurt.

As Jordyn told Hello Giggles, in an interview published a week before her encounter with Tristan, Kylie wore her SECNDNTURE line's black leggings "every single day, to be honest, and the cropped windbreaker jacket is a staple piece. I constantly see her in everything, though." And when Kylie snaps a photo of herself, that usually means millions of others are seeing what she's wearing, too.

Instagram

On Dec. 23, Jordyn posted a selfie on Instagram and when Kylie sweetly proposed, "Jordyn Jenner?" with a diamond ring emoji in the comments section, Jaden quickly added, "Nah Nah Nah It's Jordyn Smith." (Thanks as always, CommentsbyCelebs.) 

Of course, as seen on Life of Kylie, Jordyn and Kylie already had their commitment ceremony on a trip to Peru in 2017...so you snooze, you lose, Jaden. 

On Feb. 7, Kylie revealed her bundled selection of favorite Kylie Cosmetics products for the month, "featuring one of my all time favorite palettes, the Jordyn palette!"

Last week, the Jordyn palette was slashed to half-off, priced to sell out ASAP (which it promptly did).

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Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith Through the Years

So in light of recent events, it's Jordyn's connection with the Smiths that has appeared as a lifeline. 

"JORDYN WOODS FRIDAY," Red Table Talk's Twitter account promised.

She has avoided posting on Instagram or Twitter since the scandal erupted, but on Tuesday Jordyn teased her appearance on Instagram Live. The camera trailed her as she walked toward the round red table in question and sat down. The look on her face suggests she has something to say.