2022: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
Photo: Getty Images, Mike Coppola. All rights reserved.
It was probably the most confusing pop culture event of 2022: Will Smith marched onto the stage at the Oscars last year and slapped fellow actor Chris Rock. Now his wife Jada Pinkett Smith is speaking out about the incident for the first time.
Although Smith’s slap was probably intended as a defense of his partner after Rock made a joking comment about her baldness, Pinkett Smith was apparently just as irritated as the rest of the audience. In a recent interview with People magazine, the actress said she initially thought it was a “sketch.” “I thought to myself, ‘There’s no way Will hit him,'” she said in an interview. “It wasn’t until Will went back to his chair that I realized it wasn’t a skit.” She also remembers Smith first asking her if she was OK when he came off stage.
Although the “The Pursuit of Happyness” actor apologized several times after the incident, he withdrew from the Oscar Academy and was banned from all related events for 10 years. To this day, Chris Rock has not forgiven him for the violent act.
Pinkett Smith also recently announced that she and Will Smith are still married, but have been living “completely separate lives” since 2016. On the occasion of her memoir “Worthy”, which will be published on October 13th, she spoke to journalist Hode Kotb from the US television network NBC about her relationship with the Hollywood star. “I think we were both still stuck in our fantasy of what the other person should be like,” Pinkett Smith said of the reason for their marriage breakup. However, both “just didn’t feel ready” to share it with the public.
The couple has been married since 1997 and has two children together. 22-year-old Willow Smith and 25-year-old Jaden Smith have both followed in their parents’ footsteps and are pursuing both music and acting careers. Will Smith has another son, Trey Smith, from his first marriage to Sheree Zampino.