Jada Pinkett Smith finally revealed what Chris Rock said to her off camera after actor Will Smith walked up to the Oscars presenter and slapped him in the face over the comedian’s joke about her shaved head at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022.
During an interview on Friday with the “Today” show, the 52-year-old actress said that immediately after the incident, while viewers were watching the clips of the nominees for Best Documentary Feature, Rock leaned over the stage and apologized to her.
“And Chris looks to me and he says, ‘Jada, I meant no harm,'” Smith told the host. “Now, I’m just out of it because I’m really worried about Will. And Will’s still talking because now he’s mad because Chris is talking to me.”
EXCLUSIVE: Jada Pinkett Smith spoke to @hodakotb about feeling “shocked” after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock: “We haven’t called each other husband and wife in a long time. I’m like, ‘What is going on right now?'” pic.twitter.com/tuqshIZ6OH
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 13, 2023
She said she told the comedian “‘Chris this is about some old s**t.'” and added, “That’s all I could think to say. And I couldn’t really take in his apology.”
Jada said she thought some people faulted her for what happened because she had previously discussed in 2020 her “entanglement” years earlier with singer August Alsina.
At the time, the actress claimed it occurred while she and Will were separated briefly. However, she recently revealed that the two stars have been “separated” since 2016.
In an interview earlier this week for People magazine, the “Girls Trip” star said Rock had asked her out on a date one of the times the Hollywood couple was in the news over divorce rumors, which might put a bit more context into what happened at the Oscars.
“I think every summer, all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce,” Pinkett Smith said. “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,'” she added. “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.”