Jada Wastes No Time Addressing Oscars Slap On Red Table Talk

You'd have to be living under a pretty big pile of rocks to be unaware of Will Smith's on-stage and on-air slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards ceremony on March 27. After Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's close-cropped haircut — a result of her alopecia — her husband strode on stage and slapped Rock across the face. Smith then returned to his seat and shouted at Rock to "keep my wife's name out of your f*****g mouth" while the stunned comedian tried to recover. 

Although it has been more than three weeks since the incident, Pinkett Smith has been relatively quiet about it aside from an Instagram post made two days later — that is, until Wednesday's Season 5 premiere of her Facebook Watch-exclusive talk show, "Red Table Talk." The interview program premiered in 2018 and stars Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow Smith, and her mother Adrienne "Gammy" Banfield-Norris. Over the show's 100-plus episodes, they have welcomed guests like athletes Venus and Serena Williams, actors Samuel L. Jackson and Sandra Bullock, and music legends Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, and Alicia Keys (via IMDb). 

The episode released Wednesday on Facebook Watch featured musician and actor Janelle Monáe, but before it even began, Pinkett Smith had a statement for viewers regarding the events of the Oscars night and their effect on her family.

A set of title cards with white text on a black background appeared at the beginning of the episode and 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. Until then... the table will continue offering itself to powerful, inspiring, and healing testimonies like that of our incredibly impressive first guest. Thanks for joining us. Jada." The episode then cut to a teaser of the interview with Janelle Monáe and a pre-taped segment introducing her.

The interview itself was wide-ranging, covering Monáe's difficult upbringing, complex family relationships, and her close friendship with musical icon Prince. The New York Post reported that the episode was recorded before the Oscar night incident, which would explain why the slap was not mentioned beyond the opening title card message.

The healing Pinkett Smith called for — and also referenced in her Instagram post from March 29 — will no doubt take time and effort, and viewers of "Red Table Talk" will apparently be privileged to be part of the conversation as it happens.