After the slap, Smith told Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.” Photo: Emma McIntyre / (Getty Images)
It was the face-to-face contact heard around the world. When Will Smith jumped on stage at the 94th Academy Awards earlier this year to slap host Chris Rock. After the altercation, which erupted after Rock made a colorless joke at the expense of Jada Pinkett Smith, it seemed that the Internet, the nation, and potentially the universe at large were divided. But according to Pinkett Smith, what Smith and Rock really need is reunification.
In today’s episode of Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Live Red Table Talk series, the actress addressed the slap as part of an episode that talked about alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. , which Pinkett Smith herself has.
The joke that finally left Rock with a sore jaw in the morning was related to Pinkett Smith’s hair, or lack thereof. The punchline referred to Pinkett Smith as “GI Jane”.
“Given what I’ve been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars, thousands of people have contacted me with their stories,” Pinkett Smith said during the episode.
While his famous peers quickly took sides (from Judd Apatow’s apparent belief that Smith might have “killed” Rock to his son Jaden Smith’s belief that “this is how we do it”), Pinkett Smith to say that their greatest wish is for Rock and Smith to have a chance to sort things out.
“Now on Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two smart, capable men will have a chance to heal, talk and reconcile,” added Pinkett Smith. “The state of the world today, we both need them. And we all need each other more than ever.”
Smith took the first step toward reconciling just one day after the slap, posted a heartfelt apology to Rock on Instagram, and resigned from his role as a member of the Academy. The Academy, in its own response, banned Smith from all of its events (including, of course, the Oscars) for the next 10 years. Although Rock has not yet directly addressed the incident, he has made small hints at the time in jokes about his recent tour.
Whatever happens next between her husband and Rock, well, Pinkett Smith has no plans to change her current focus. “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,” Pinkett Smith shared.