During the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock the host for cracking an insensitive joke about his wife, Jada Smith’s shaved head. The slap put Will Smith on the headlines leading to massive online backlash. However, later in the same event when he received the award for Best Actor, he justified his actions by stating how he had vowed to protect his loved ones.
Jada Smith with her husband, Will Smith
However, Jada Smith was not thrilled about her husband’s performance, as she could not interpret the whole incident thinking that it was some skit. While some people blamed the Hancock actor for the controversy, his fans blamed his wife was solely responsible for the incident. The Collateral actress has opened up about the incident and reacted to being blamed for the incident.
Jada Smith Looks Back On The Aftermath of The 94th Academy Awards Incident
When Chris Rock announced the nominees Best Documentary Prize, the host joked at Jada Smith and Will Smith who were seated near the front of the audience. Rock then jokes about her shaved head saying, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it, all right?” After the comment, Rock saw Smith walking towards him in annoyance, he said, “Uh oh—Richard!” and slapped him across the face.
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards
However, until now Jada Smith had been silent on the whole controversy until she felt that people were making a big deal out of the event. During an exclusive interview with People, she mentioned the narrative of her cheating on her husband, and that was a good enough reason for people to blame her.
“It was ridiculous in how far it went. But I also understood at the same time. Considering the false narrative that I had cheated on Will or I was like some adulteress, Will had never done that before. And I think that when we just look at human nature… when you look at the breadcrumbs, people need something to blame.”
Jada Smith and Will Smith at the 94th Academy Awards
The Madagascar actress added that she was surprised how people were unaware of their relationship and people blaming her was not surprising to her at all. She believes that it is human nature for people to find someone or something to put the blame on.
“And so people not knowing what was happening behind the scenes, I surely wasn’t surprised that I got blamed. But I understood that that’s just the human nature of it all.”
While Jada shared how she perceived the aftermath of the situation, she also told what was going on when she saw the incident and how she is still trying to figure out the incident.
Jada Smith Couldn’t Come To Terms About The Oscars Slap
The Slap at the 94th Academy Awards is not an incident that one can forget about and even after 19 months, people clearly remember how Will Smith walked up the ramp and slapped the comedian. Upon returning to his seat, the actor shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!” The actress was baffled and in a separate interview with People, she stated it felt like a skit, and she was telling herself, that her husband had not hit Rock in front of so many people.
Will Smith and Jada Smith
“I thought, ‘This is a skit.’ I was like, ‘There’s no way that Will hit him. It wasn’t until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realized it wasn’t a skit.”
She was thunderstruck by the whole incident and the first thing she spoke to the Men in Black actor after the broadcast ended was “Are you okay?” Following the incident Will Smith received a 10-year ban from the organization, while Smith publicly apologized to Chris Rock stating that he simply “lost it.” Whereas Rock refrained from talking about the incident until his standup special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage in March.
