Jada Pinkett Smith says she hopes that comedian Chris Rock and her husband, Will Smith, can “heal” and “reconcile” following their infamous altercation at the Oscars.
“My deepest hope,” Pinkett Smith said in an episode of her Facebook Watch program “Red Table Talk” released Wednesday, “is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile.”
“The state of our world today, we need them both,” the “Matrix: Resurrections” performer added of Smith and Rock. “And we 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 keep figuring out this thing called life together,” Pinkett Smith said.
While Pinkett Smith issued a brief public statement on Instagram in the days following the March incident at the Academy Awards, Wednesday marked the first time she spoke out publicly about the moment.
Rock, appearing onstage to introduce one of the award show’s categories, cracked a joke about Pinkett Smith’s bald head, comparing her to the title character in the 1997 film “G.I. Jane.”
Pinkett Smith revealed in 2018 that she had been diagnosed with alopecia areata, a disease that causes hair loss.
Smith, who was in the audience, hurled a series of expletives at Rock and took to the stage to slap the comic. The entertainer returned to his seat, and accepted the best actor award for his role in “King Richard” just minutes later.
The Academy’s board later banned Smith from attending any of its events for 10 years over the altercation.
Pinkett Smith’s comments came on an episode of “Red Table Talk” dedicated to discussing the impact of living with alopecia.
“Considering what I’ve been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars, thousands have reached out to me with their stories,” Pinkett Smith told viewers.
“I think the part that makes it most difficult for me is that it comes and goes,” Pinkett Smith, 50, said of alopecia. “So you’re going through a spout of something and you got to shave your head because it’s falling out.”