This Is Why Will Smith Told Chris Rock to Keep Jada Pinkett Smith's Name "Out Your F**king Mouth"
Tensions escalated at the 2022 Oscars after the comedian compared Pinkett Smith, who struggles with alopecia, to G.I. Jane.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith (Photo: Getty Images)
Will Smith defended Jada Pinkett-Smith after Chris Rock made an unsavory joke about her baldness–a symptom of her alopecia diagnosis, which causes hair loss–at the 2022 Oscars ceremony.
While presenting the award for Best Documentary, Rock spoused off a round of jokes that poked fun at the audience. Arriving at Pinkett-Smith, the comedian asked her if she'd be starring in the next G.I. Jane film, comparing her to the titular character of the 1997 film, who sports a close shaven buzzcut.
Soon after, the King Richard star approached Rock on the stage and promptly slapped him. Upon returning to his seat, Smith shouted at Rock, "Keep my wife's name out of your f**king mouth."
Photo: Nielson Barnard/Getty Images
Rock previously directed his punch lines at Pinkett-Smith during the 2016 Academy Awards ceremony, when she refused to attend in order to protest the award show's lack of diversity. "Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties," he said at the time. "I wasn’t invited! Oh, that’s not an invitation I would turn down!"
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Pinkett-Smith responded to the joke, saying, "We got a lot of stuff we gotta handle, a lot of stuff going on in our world right now. We gotta keep it moving."
The actress has previously opened up about struggling with alopecia. In December 2021, she shared a video of her hair loss to Instagram, saying, "You know mama's going to put some rhinestones in there. I'm going to make me a little crown. That's what mama's going to do."
This article originally appeared in Harper's BAZAAR US