Jada Pinkett Smith is ready to talk about that Oscars slap.
Back in March, the Matrix Revolutions actress witnessed an onstage altercation between her husband Will Smith and Chris Rock, who was presenting an award at the 2022 Oscars when he made a joke about Jada's shaved head—which is a result of her years-long struggles with alopecia. In an unscripted moment, Will got up from his seat and slapped Chris in the face, a move that landed him a 10-year ban from all Academy events.
Now, on an episode of Red Table Talk released June 1, Jada addressed the incident and shared her "deepest hopes" for the two men. She began, "Considering my own health and what happened at the Oscars, thousands have reached out to me with their stories."
Explaining how she was dedicating the episode "to inform people what alopecia actually is," the 50-year-old continued, "Now, about Oscars night: My deepest hope is that these two intelligent capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out, and reconcile."
"With the state of the world today, we need them both—and we all actually need one another more than ever," she added. "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."
While this was the first time Jada publicly addressed the incident directly, she's been open about the path of healing for a while. On March 29, just days after the Oscars ceremony, she shared an Instagram post that read: "This is a season for healing and I'm here for it."
Jada also touched on the idea of healing during the season five premiere of Red Table Talk, which she co-hosts alongside daughter Willow Smith and mom Adrienne Banfield Norris. On the April 20 episode, the first since the slap, the Facebook Watch show opened with a title card reading: "With 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 comes."
On the latest episode of her show, Jada and her family spoke to Niki Ball, whose 12-year-old daughter Rio Allred was diagnosed with alopecia and died by suicide after she was severely bullied for the skin condition. Recounting her thoughts after seeing what transpired on Oscars night, Niki voiced her beliefs that the incident sparked an important conversation about alopecia and how "it's not a joke."
Will, for his part, has apologized to Chris for the slap. He said in a statement on March 28, "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. I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong."
He added, "I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."