Jada Pinkett-Smith is finally breaking her silence on that infamous moment at the 2022 Oscars, where her husband Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage in front of the entire watching world, after Rock made a joke about Jada’s bald-head look at the ceremony. Jada Pinkett-Smith has the hair loss condition known as alopecia, and was none too appreciative about being singled-out by Rock – and Will Smith responded with violent action. In the time since The Slap, Will Smith has resigned from The Academy, and the future of his career is still questionable.
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So what does Jada Pinkett Smith have to say about what happened between Will Smith and Chris Rock during the Oscars?
During the opening moments of her latest Red Table Talk show, Pinkett-Smith (briefly) broke down her thoughts on the 2022 Oscars controversy:
“Now about Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” Pinkett shared with viewers. “The state of the world today, we need them both. And we all actually need one another more than ever. Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years, and that’s keep figuring out this thing called life together. Thank you for listening.”
Pinkett was also quick to shift focus away from The Oscars slap, and back on the issue that sparked it:
“This is a really important Red Table Talk on alopecia. Considering what I’ve been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars, thousands have reached out to me with their stories. I’m using this moment to give our alopecia family an opportunity to talk about what it’s like to have this condition and to inform people about what alopecia actually is.”
Insider reports following the Oscars claimed Jada was regretful but not angry about what happened between Will and Chris Rock. Whatever the resolution is between the three stars, personally, the social landscape has been forever changed. Comedians have reported that aggression from audiences has shot-up since Smith took to the stage to hit Rock; the most famous recent case being Dave Chappelle being outright attacked onstage by an armed assailant. While Chappelle and his security team “handled” the threat, it was a signal flare that indeed the paradigm of stand-up comedy may have been forever changed.
