Jada Pinkett Smith has revealed what occurred between her and Chris Rock instantly after her husband, Will Smith, slapped him throughout the face throughout the 2022 Oscars ceremony.
The incident has been known as “the slap heard around the world,” after Rock made a G.I. Jane joke about Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia and suffers hair loss. Smith took problem with the joke and walked onto the Oscars stage from his front-row seat and open-palm slapped Rock throughout the face.
Smith returned to his seat and shouted for Rock to “Keep my wife’s name out of your f–-ing mouth!”
In an interview with Hoda Kotb of NBC’s Today present, set to air in its entirety Friday evening, Pinkett Smith stated that she and Rock had a quick dialog instantly after the slap whereas snippets for the most effective documentary nominees had been being proven.
“Chris looks to me and he says, ‘Jada, I meant no harm,’” she remembers. “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–t.’ That’s all I could think of saying, right? And I couldn’t really take in his apology.”
As of this writing, Rock has not publicly commented on or corroborated Pinkett Smith’s claims. Neither has Smith.
According to Pinkett Smith, she and Rock have a protracted historical past collectively. The Matrix Reloaded actor stated in an interview with People this week that Rock requested her out on a date whereas rumours had been swirling that her and Smith had been headed for divorce.
“I think every summer, all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce. And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce,” she stated.
“So he called me and basically he was like, ‘I’d love to take you out.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘Well, aren’t you and Will getting a divorce?’ I was like, ‘No. Chris, those are just rumors.’ He was appalled. And he profusely apologized, and that was that.”
As for Smith’s motivations on Oscar evening in 2022, he defined in an interview that came about shortly after the jaw-dropping ceremony that there have been “many nuances and complexities” as to why he slapped Rock.
“But at the end of the day, I just — I lost it.”
And but, whereas Pinkett Smith and Smith are nonetheless legally married, they’re now not romantically collectively, Pinkett Smith shared within the interview with Kotb.
“It was not a divorce on paper,” Kotb clarified.
“Right,” Pinkett Smith responded.
“…but it was a divorce,” Kotb stated.
“Divorce,” Pinkett Smith emphasised.
According to Pinkett Smith, the pair have been separated since 2016 whereas sustaining the looks of being a dedicated, married couple within the public eye.
“By the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be,” she stated.
So when Smith informed Rock to “keep my wife’s name” out of his mouth after the Oscars slap, Pinkett Smith stated she was shocked.
“We haven’t known as one another husband and spouse in a very long time. I’m like ‘What is going on right now?’”
After the slap, Smith went on to win the best actor award for his role in King Richard. He has also been banned from Academy Awards for 10 years.
Discussing his behaviour that night, Kotb said it seemed “totally out of character” for Smith.
“It’s not him in any way,” Pinkett Smith agreed.
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