Jada Pinkett Smith has disclosed what Chris Rock said to her immediately after the infamous Will Smith Oscars slap incident that unfolded during the 2022 Oscars ceremony.
The awards show took a chaotic turn when Will Smith slapped comedian Chris after he made a joke about Jada’s hair. Chris had been taking shots at audience members in attendance at the 94th Academy Awards when he quipped about Jada’s shaved head, likening her to “GI Jane,” the titular character from the 1997 film in which Demi Moore sported a similar look.
Jada, who had previously opened up about experiencing alopecia, was understandably upset by the comment, prompting her husband to jump onto the stage in her defense. Will returned to his seat and called out to the host, saying, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth.”
A stunned Chris replied, “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.”
In a recent interview with People, Jada, 52, discussed the incident ahead of the release of her new book, “Worthy,” which has also brought to light the revelation that she and her husband Will have been secretly separated for seven years. Jada explained that she hadn’t talked to Chris recently and called the whole incident a “big misunderstanding.”
She referenced the 2016 Oscars, during which Will was overlooked for his performance in “Concussion,” and no actors of color were nominated. Jada publicly supported the #OscarsSoWhite movement and called for a boycott of the awards.
Chris hosted the 2016 Oscars and made jokes about Jada in his monologue. He also claimed in his Netflix comedy special, released earlier this year, that Jada had suggested he quit the hosting job in solidarity with the boycott.
Jada clarified her stance, saying, “[Do I have] any desire to talk to Chris? Here’s my desire: I just hope that all the misunderstanding around this can be cleared up, and there can be peace. I talk about this in the book. I think there might be some misunderstanding between Chris and me regarding the 2016 Oscars.”
She added, “I think he might’ve taken offense, which I meant no harm in offending. That wasn’t my intention. But I do think there’s a big misunderstanding there.”
Jada admitted that she hadn’t fully recognized the pressure Chris might have been under. She said, “I probably should have called him and gone, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ And just know that although I’m speaking out about the Oscars, I do wish you the best, and I just want you to know that.”
Regarding the immediate aftermath of the slap, Jada revealed that Chris came down from the stage to speak to her during a pause in the live broadcast. She said, “Chris came down to the end of the stage and tried to apologize to me. He said, ‘I didn’t mean you any harm.’ I said, ‘I can’t talk about this now, Chris. This is some old s**t.’”
She assumed that the incident was related to the Oscars in 2016 and events that transpired before she became involved in the late ’80s. She expressed her belief that it was up to Will and Chris to address their issues.
Jada also mentioned that she believed they had moved past the 2016 incident because Chris had called her at some point during that year to apologize. She said, “He apologized, and I apologized to him as well. So I actually thought that we were good, that the hatchet was buried between us. And we hadn’t talked since then, until 2022 came.”
