Toni Braxton & Jada Pinkett-Smith
Yeah. I know. Hold on to your seats.
Toni Braxton (born 1967) is an R&B icon known for such hits as “Breathe Again” (1993), “Let It Flow” (1995), “Unbreak My Heart” (1995), “He Wasn’t Man Enough” (2000) and “Where Did We Go Wrong” (2013).
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (born 1971) is an actress and businesswoman known for her roles in Menace II Society (1993), The Nutty Professor (1996), Set It Off (1996), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), and the Madagascar movies (2005-2013), as well as her marriage to superstar Will Smith.
Apparently, both women have Jewish grandmothers.
Braxton’s Jewish grandmother is Ashkenazi, while Pinkett Smith’s is Sephardic via Portuguese extraction. What’s less clear is on which side said grandmother falls. If these grandmothers are on the maternal side, by rights, we not only get Toni Braxton, but all of her sisters too, and not only Jada Pinkett Smith, but Jaden and Willow too, as Jews.