We Now Know Jada Pinkett Smith's Initial Reaction After Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock
Has a slap ever been analyzed as much as the one that happened at the 2022 Oscars? The footage of Will Smith initially laughing after Chris Rock made a crack about Jada Pinkett Smith's buzzed hair contributed to the confusion over the incident, convincing some Twitter detectives that the moment Will stormed the stage was staged. But then Will won the Best Actor Oscar for "King Richard" and expressed regret over his actions in his acceptance speech.
However, his apology to Rock came later on Instagram, long after a large number of Hollywood's biggest stars had shared their own reactions to the slap. "Here's a picture of my dress at the award show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now," Zoë Kravitz wrote on Instagram. "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women," Jada's "Girls Trip" co-star Tiffany Haddish told People. Will and Jada's son, Jaden Smith, also appeared to side with his dad when he tweeted, "And That's How We Do It."
But what many viewers are likely curious about is what Jada herself thought about the incident. Aside from a cryptic Instagram post, she's been quiet about it so far, but an audience member at the Oscars filmed her initial reaction to the moment Will's hand made contact with Rock's face.
Jada Pinkett Smith's husband knows what it's like to be in Chris Rock's position
Right after Chris Rock cracked his "G.I. Jane" joke, which compared Demi Moore's infamous buzz cut in the movie with Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, cameras captured Jada rolling her eyes, while Will Smith chuckled. But her demeanor changed after Will smacked the comedian. A TikTok user shared a video clip filmed close to the couple that showed Jada laughing after Rock said, "Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me." After sitting back down, Will loudly cursed Rock out, but Jada kept her eyes mostly glued to the stage and appeared to laugh again when Rock tried to move past the incident by saying, "That was the greatest night in the history of television."
Will likely became enraged by Rock's joke about Jada's buzz cut because, as noted by People, she suffers from hair loss caused by alopecia. While Jada hasn't opened up about the incident, she did share an Instagram post that read, "This is a season for healing. And I'm here for it."
Interestingly, her husband knows what it feels like to be in Rock's position. In one of his "Storytime" videos, Will recalled getting punched in the face at school after one of his jokes angered a fellow student. Afterward, he made a promise to himself. "I would never do anything ... to rile up the darkest, dirtiest parts of people," he said.
Jada's hair confessions
Whether or not Jada Pinkett Smith was really upset about Chris Rock's joke remains to be seen, though we do know that the star seemed confident when it came to her hair mere days before the Oscars slap that has everyone talking took place. In a video posted to TikTok on March 23, which now appears to have been removed, Jada got candid about her ups and downs with her hair over the years. "Being a black woman and dealing with hair in Hollywood, especially in the era that I came up in... having your hair look as European as possible was always the thing," Jada said, per Prevention, noting, "And that was really challenging, you know, because I liked my hair out, wild, and curly, but nobody wanted that." She claimed that she now felt much more confident and actually always preferred her hair natural, telling her followers, "I don't give two craps what people think about this bald head of mine, because guess what? I love it."
So what really instigated things? Well, there have been rumors though that Will Smith could already have had beef with Chris Rock before the 2022 ceremony even started. As plenty of Will's past appearances showing him being a little possessive over his wife or getting physical have come back to haunt him, a source told People the actor may still have been angry about a joke Rock made about Jada while hosting the Oscars six years prior.
There could be more behind the slap
As well as reports suggesting there may have been lingering bad blood between Will Smith and Chris Rock, others in the spotlight have speculated Will could potentially be dealing with more than the public knows about. Jim Carrey spoke out about Will's already infamous incident on "CBS Mornings" on March 28, claiming, "[The slap] came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that's frustrated. I wish him the best. I have nothing against Will Smith. He's done great things, but that was not a good moment. It cast a shadow over everyone's shining moment. It was a selfish moment."
As for what could come of the slap, well, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is set to make a decision about what kind of repercussions Will will face on April 18. In a statement, per People, they noted that Will could potentially be expelled and also claimed that he was asked to leave the ceremony in the wake of the incident. However, TMZ alleged that wasn't true, citing a source who maintained Will was actually told by a producer that he was allowed to remain at the event.
For his part, Will has apologized. He first said sorry to the Academy and attendees in his Best Actor acceptance speech, before issuing a lengthy statement on Instagram in which he directly apologized to Rock (who was left out of his initial addressing of the situation).