Jada Pinkett Smith Makes A Shocking Revelation About Will Smith's Oscars Slap
Almost two years after the slap heard 'round the world, Jada Pinkett Smith is speaking out about both the incident and her marriage to Will Smith.
While promoting her new book "Worthy," which hits shelves on October 17, Pinkett Smith sat down with People to reveal something huge about the viral Oscars moment where Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith's shaved head. Pinkett Smith lives with alopecia and chooses to keep her head shaved as a result. Needless to say, a "G.I. Jane" joke made by Rock didn't go over well. Smith famously followed up the slap by telling Rock, "Keep my wife's name out your f***ing mouth."
Pinkett Smith, like everyone else in the world, simply assumed the situation was a planned bit ... and was just as shocked as anybody to discover that Smith actually slapped Rock in earnest. "I thought, 'This is a skit," Pinkett Smith told People. "I was like, 'There's no way that Will hit him.' It wasn't until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realized it wasn't a skit."
The moment was definitely shocking, and it led to huge consequences for Smith — so it's an added surprise to realize that Pinkett Smith was baffled by it too. She also revealed that the first thing she asked Smith following the ceremony was simply, "Are you okay?"
Will Smith faced huge consequences for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars
That moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock back in March 2022 was baffling at first — in fact, several feeds of the ceremony went completely blank as networks panicked. But when the dust settled, all hell really broke loose. Shortly after slapping Rock, Smith got up on the stage to accept his award for best actor for his role in "King Richard," a film about Venus and Serena Williams' father Richard Williams. The anointed winner then gave an extraordinarily tearful speech and received a standing ovation. However, Smith started facing major consequences almost immediately.
Not only was there reportedly an argument over whether or not to kick Smith out of the ceremony on the spot, but Smith also resigned from the Academy (he'd been a member since 2001) and was eventually banned from the ceremony for ten full years. In response, Smith released a simple, brief statement that said, "I accept and respect the Academy's decision." Smith's next movie, "Emancipation," barely made a splash when it came out in 2022, and a sequel to his Netflix original movie "Bright" was canceled. Smith may have walked away from the ceremony with a statuette for best actor, but the effect this slap had on his career still feels irreversible.
Rock, meanwhile, took some time to comment on the slap but ultimately addressed the incident in a Netflix stand-up special titled "Selective Outrage."
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are separated — but she still supports him
Jada Pinkett Smith had one last bombshell to drop in her People interview. Even though Will Smith implored Chris Rock to keep his "wife's" name out of his mouth, the couple has actually been separated since 2016.
"We're still figuring it out," Pinkett Smith told People after revealing that the two were long separated at the 2022 Oscars. "We've been doing some really heavy-duty work together. We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us." With that said, she also clarified that she and Smith are there for one another as much as they can be. Regarding the slap and its ramifications, Pinkett Smith said, "I'm going to be by his side but also allow him to have to figure this out for himself."
Pinkett Smith's memoir, which might give people even more insight into her marriage and the infamous slap, comes out on October 17.