Jada Pinkett Smith sat down with the mother of a 12-year-old girl who took her own life after being bullied for her alopecia at school.
On the latest episode of Red Table Talk that aired on Wednesday (June 1) Pinkett Smith, 50, along with her daughter Willow Smith, 21, and her mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, 68, spoke with Niki Ball, the mother of a 12-year-old daughter who also suffered from alopecia.
Ball's daughter Rio was severely bullied over her hair loss and unfortunately died by suicide in March.
Her mother explained that Rio started to develop alopecia at home early during the pandemic. It started with a bald spot on her head, and then soon Rio's hair started to fall out "by the handful," leading to an alopecia diagnosis.
"With the hair loss, she was so strong," Ball said about Rio in an exclusive clip. "She still rocked it even when it was falling out, and she just had these big bald patches. Tried the creams. They made her break out. Tried the injections, she took five of them in one day. But neither of them really did anything."
The mother said that her daughter asked, "can we just shave my head?" so the family did, and "she glowed."
"And then with school coming up, we got her that super cute wig, she loved it, and she glowed then," Ball continues. "But at school, within a couple of weeks, she was like, 'I don't want to wear it anymore, there's no point.'
"She had it ripped off her head. She'd get smacked upside on the head walking down the hallway. And that was within the first two weeks, three weeks. It got really bad for her."
Ball said children at the school called her daughter a "naked mole rat," a "bug-eyed alien" and "Mr. and Mrs. Clean."
Ball also revealed that three weeks before Rio's suicide, her daughter had a "really bad day" at school and "just lost it" when she got in the car to go home. "I knew this was very serious," she added.
Ball had taken the initiative to speak with Rio's teachers and administrators at school and then assured the youngster that she has a very supportive family - an "army of people" on her side.
On March 14, 2022, Rio took her own life as a result of all the torment. Grieving parent Ball said it "was the worst day of my life."
"She was so smart. She was just brilliant," Ball said. "And she was funny. She was a great big sister. She loved reading and writing and sketching. She loved being in the band."
Pinkett Smith was emotional as she listened to Ball and said that Rio's story is one of the reasons why people "need an understanding around the devastation of this condition."
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out for help and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
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