About two months following the incident that had everyone talking after the 2022 Oscars, Jada Pinkett Smith has addressed what happened in the June 1 episode of her Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch.
Chris Rock, while presenting an award, joked about Pinkett Smith being bald, and her husband, Will Smith, walked up on stage and slapped him. After that, Pinkett Smith said on her show, “Thousands have reached out to me with their stories” about alopecia, the topic of the episode.
“Now about Oscar night: My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out, and reconcile,” she said. “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 to keep figuring out this thing called life together.” She also used the word “healing” in a post on Instagram two days after the awards show.
Following the slap at the Oscars, Smith won for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work in King Richard. “Love will make you do crazy things,” he said during his acceptance speech. He later issued an open letter with apologies to Rock, the Academy, the Oscars producers, attendees, viewers, the Williams family, and the King Richard family.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” he wrote.
Less than a week after the Oscars, Smith resigned from the Academy, amid its ongoing inquiry into the incident. He was then banned from attending any Academy events or programs, including the Oscars, for 10 years, beginning on April 8, 2022.
The Emmy-winning Facebook Watch series is hosted by Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow, and her old-school mother Adrienne Banfield Norris. Each episode is filmed at the Smith’s family home where they each bring their unique perspectives to real issues affecting real people.
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