Jada Pinkett Smith breaks her silence on Oscars slap, wants Will Smith and Chris Rock to ‘reconcile’

Jada Pinkett Smith said she wants Will Smith and Chris Rock to reconcile. Will slapped Chris Rock onstage at the 2022 Oscars, after he made a joke at Jada's expense.

Actor Jada Pinkett Smith has said that she wants her husband Will Smith to reconcile with Chris Rock, whom he had slapped at the 2022 Oscars for making a joke at her expense. This is the first time Jada spoke about the incident, though she alluded to it on some occasions in the past. She referred to both Will and Chris as 'intelligent men' and said she hopes they have a chance to heal.

Left- Will Smith smacking Chris Rock at Oscars. Right- Jada Pinkett Smith's reaction when Chris made a joke about her, seconds before the slap.

Jada addressed the slap on her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk, and said that the controversy led to several people suffering from alopecia reaching out to her with their stories. Will had slapped Chris at the 94th Academy Awards after he made a joke about Jada's shaved head. "Jada, can't wait for GI Jane 2," the comedian said, referring to Demi Moore’s 1997 movie GI Jane in which Demi's lead character had shaved head. Jada, meanwhile, had revealed on her talk show a few years ago that she took the decision to shave her head after she was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder.

Jada's latest episode on her talk show featured people's experiences with alopecia. Recalling the Oscars incident in the episode, she said, “This is a really important Red Table Talk on alopecia. Considering what I’ve been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars, thousands have reached out to me with their stories. I’m using this moment to give our alopecia family an opportunity to talk about what it’s like to have this condition and to inform people about what alopecia actually is."

Speaking about Will and Chris, she said, “Now, about Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile. The state of the world today, we need them both. And we all actually need one 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. Thank you for listening.”

Will slapping Chris at the Academy Awards had become the highlight of the 2022 awards ceremony. Will, who won the best actor award at the ceremony for his film King Richard, was later banned from attending the Oscars and other Academy functions for the next 10 years due to the incident.