Nearly three months after the slap heard round the world, Jada Pinkett Smith is ready to address the controversy involving her husband, Will Smith, and the comedian who made light of her struggle with alopecia, Chris Rock.
Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk, aired an episode on Wednesday, June 1, dedicated to sharing the stories of people with alopecia as well as more information about the condition. At the top of the episode, Pinkett Smith shared a brief statement addressing Slapgate, which she had been mostly silent about since the night it happened.
“Now about Oscar night,” she said, addressing the camera without the presence of her daughter, Willow Smith, or her mom, Adrienne Banfield-Norris—her two cohosts on the show.
“My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have the opportunity to heal, talk this out, and reconcile,” she continued. Without naming Rock outright, she went on: “The state of the world today? We need ’em both.
“And we all actually need on 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.”
At the 2022 Oscars on March 27, Will Smith approached the stage and slapped Rock, who was presenting the award for best documentary, after a joke in which Rock seemingly made fun of Pinkett Smith’s alopecia-related hair loss. Smith then returned to his seat but yelled at the stage, “Keep my wife’s name out ya fucking mouth.”
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In the weeks since, Smith apologized for resorting to violence and resigned from the Academy. He was later banned from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years.
A few days after the Oscars, Jada Pinkett Smith released an ambiguous statement via Instagram. “This is the season for healing. And I’m here for it,” read the graphic. On the April 21 episode of Red Table Talk, another graphic seemingly addressing the controversy read: “Considering all that has happened in the last few weeks, the Smith family has been focusing on deep healing. Some of the discoveries around our healing will be shared at the table when the time calls.”
Hopefully, with Pinkett Smith’s message out in the world, we can finally put Slapgate behind us.
