Jada Pinkett Smith has finally talked about the shocking moment that her husband, Will Smith, slapped the comic Chris Rock at the Oscars, saying that she hopes that “these two smart and capable men will have a chance to heal, talk and reconcile. “
In the last episode of her Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk, Pinkett Smith turned her husband’s outburst into a teaching moment about alopecia areata, dedicating the episode to the hair loss disorder that it affects her and millions of others.
Smith slapped Rock on stage in March after the comic joked, “Jada, I love you. ‘GI Jane 2’, I can’t wait to see him,” he said. Pinkett Smith, similar to Demi Moore in the 1997 film.
Will Smith slaps and insults Chris Rock on the Oscars stage – watch the full video
Smith, who returned to his seat and later accepted the Oscar for Best Actor for King Richard, later apologized to Rock, but was banned from the ceremony for 10 years by the film academy.
“Now, on Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two smart, capable men will have a chance to heal, talk, and reconcile,” Pinkett Smith told Red Table Talk . “The state of the world today, we need them both, and we all need them more than ever.
“Until then, Will and I have been doing what we’ve been doing for the last 28 years, and that’s continuing to discover this thing called life together.”
“Considering what I went through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars, thousands of people have contacted me with their stories,” the actor said. Among the guests on the show was the mother of a 12-year-old girl, Rio Allred, who was harassed by her hair loss and committed suicide, as well as a doctor who explained the different types of the disorder.
Rio’s mother, Nicole Ball, explained the impact of the Oscar incident, which took place less than two weeks after her daughter’s death.
“What is the universe doing right now? That’s crazy,” Ball recalled thinking. “People will be searching on Google, ‘what is alopecia … what is it that we’ve never heard of?’ It’s not a joke. “
The condition, especially for black women, can affect a person’s perception of themselves and force them to frequently confront the perceptions of others about beauty, hair, race, and culture. According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, the disorder affects up to 6.8 million people in the United States of any age, gender, and ethnicity, and symptoms can vary.
“I think the hard part of it is coming and going. You’re going through a spell of something, and [you’ve] I have to shave your head, “said Pinkett Smith.
Pinkett Smith had only briefly addressed the slap before, writing on Instagram the next day, “This is a season for healing and I’m here for that.”