Will Smith Was Mad After Chris Rock Started Talking to Jada Pinkett Smith After Their Infamous Oscar Slap
Before the release of the actress’ memoir Worthy, Jada Pinkett Smith had been making news by providing readers with a look into her ups and downs with the actor. The two are one of Hollywood’s IT couples who have been off the public’s and media’s radar for a while now.
The actress has talked extensively about her relationship with Will Smith and how their recent events—including the infamous Academy Awards incident—have played out. Learn more about what Jada Pinkett Smith has to say by reading on.
Jada Pinkett Smith shares Will Smith’s reaction to Chris Rock apologizing to her
During an interview with People magazine, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, whose memoir titled Worthy is set to release on 17th October 2023, mentioned that comedian-actor Chris Rock, who made a joke about her shaved head onstage at the 2022 Academy Awards, had approached her to apologize.
She said,
“Chris came down to the end of the stage and tried to apologize to me. He said, ‘I didn’t mean you any harm.’ I said, ‘I can’t talk about this now, Chris. This is some old s—.’ I’ve got to leave that to Will and Chris to talk about, but they got their stuff for sure.”
But during her interview with Hoda Kotb for NBC via Today, she also went ahead to reveal Will Smith’s reaction to Chris Rock apologizing to the actress for the joke he made on-stage. She shared,
“Chris looks at me and he says, ‘Jada, I meant no harm.’ I’m just out of it because I’m really worried about Will. And Will’s still talking. Now he’s mad because Chris is talking to me. And I go, ‘Chris, this is about some old s—.’ That’s all I could think of saying, right? And I couldn’t really take in his apology.”
She did not, however, reveal why Will Smith was mad at her, but it surely does add another layer to the history of both Pinkett Smith and Rock, as she had previously mentioned in an interview with People that Chris Rock had tried to ask her out years ago when he assumed that Will Smith and she were heading for a divorce after the rumors of them splitting up came out at the time.
The actress, however, did mention that she thought the whole slap situation was a skit until Will Smith started to walk back to his chair and she asked him if he was okay when they were alone after the show. She said she did not believe that Smith would hit Chris Rock.
Also read: “Because I was hurt”: Will Smith Had an Awful Time With Women Growing Up
Jada Pinkett Smith on being blamed for the infamous Oscar slap
The actress recalls during her conversation with Hoda Kotb via Today that everyone else was also shocked by how her husband Will Smith had reacted to a joke that Rock said on-stage. The anchor said that it was totally out of character and it was so surprising to see the actor riled up, to which Jada agreed.
But Kotb also pointed out that, somehow, Jada Pinkett Smith became the bad guy in the picture as some critics suggested that it was she who should have been blamed for the actor’s outburst, adding that she might have encouraged the actor to defend her. She said, “You became the bad guy. Look what Jada made him do. Jada rolled her eyes and look what he did.”
Jada Pinkett Smith, addressing this, said,
“My honest opinion about that is that narrative had more to do with the false narrative that I helped to create on the ‘Red Table’. “I did that eye roll not so much for me — and I think this is important — but the fact that there could be a jab at alopecia.”
During her People’s interview, she said that it was ridiculous how far the speculations about her being the bad guy in the picture went on. She added,
“But I also understood at the same time. Considering the false narrative that I had cheated on Will or I was like some adulteress, Will had never done that before. And I think that when we just look at human nature… when you look at the breadcrumbs, people need something to blame.”
The actress added that people didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes. She wasn’t surprised that she got blamed for everything, pointing out that she understood that it’s just the human nature of it all.
Will Smith apologized to Jada Pinkett Smith & kids
Will Smith had previously mentioned that Jada Pinkett Smith had nothing to do with his reaction to Chris Rock’s joke, which mocked Jada’s alopecia. In a video that the actor shared a couple of months later to apologize to the ones involved in the situation, he mentioned that he chose from his own experiences from his history with Chris.
Smith went ahead to apologize to his wife and kids for the heat that his reaction had brought on them. The actor resigned from the Academy after the incident and was banned from attending any Academy events for the next ten years.
