Well, in more Jada Pinkett Smith news, the actress is sharing more details about the wild 2022 Oscars slap and some of the things that led up to that explosive moment.
In an exclusive interview with @PEOPLE to promote her new memoir, “Worthy,” Smith recalls the night her husband Will struck him onstage at the Oscars after taking issue with a joke made about Jada’s alopecia.
While looking back at that moment, Jada also mentions how Chris once asked her out on a date… a bold move that Jada possibly mentioned to her husband Will. She explained to PEOPLE that it happened years ago when false rumors started coming out that she and Will were getting a 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. 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.”
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Speaking on how things are with Chris now, she says she hasn’t spoken to him since last year’s Oscars slap.
“[Do I have] any desire to talk to Chris? Here’s my desire: I just hope that all the misunderstanding around this can be cleared up and that there can be peace,” she says before explaining…“I talk about this in the book, I think that there might be some misunderstanding between Chris and I as far as the 2016 Oscars. I think that he might’ve taken offense, which I meant no harm in offending. That wasn’t my intention. But I do think that there’s a big misunderstanding there,” says Jada, 52.
Around that time, Will was overlooked for his
performance and the acting nominations recognized no actors of color at the awards show. Jada was among many celebrities who vocally backed the #OscarsSoWhite movement, and called for a boycott of the award show. To note, Chris was hosting that year, and even made jokes about Jada in his monologue
In a Netflix special, Chris claimed that Jada told him he should quit the hosting gig out of solidarity. However, Jada admits to “not really recognizing the level of pressure [Chris] might’ve been under” at the time.
“I probably should have called him and gone, ‘Hey, are you okay? And just know that although I’m speaking out about the Oscars, I do wish you the best and I just want you to know that,’ me taking the time to have called him and said that, just to touch base. But his feelings might’ve been hurt,” she says.
Despite all that has gone on, Jada says “All we can ever do is just look at our part and see where could I have done something that would’ve seemed as if… Whatever misunderstanding might’ve been created, what could I have done to avoid that misunderstanding? The one thing that I think about is that call.”
More On Jada And Chris
In an earlier interview with PEOPLE, Jada admits that she initially thought the slapping moment was just a skit…
Chris Rock has not yet reacted to her latest interview.
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#JadaPinkettSmith is opening up about the different stages of her marriage to #WillSmith. https://t.co/iXZPNQ0nAg pic.twitter.com/NJhwjtR58E
— People (@people) October 11, 2023