Days After Oscars Slapping Incident, Jada Pinkett Smith Posts Cryptic Message On Instagram

The slap heard around the world happened over the weekend when Will Smith walked on stage and hit Oscar presenter Chris Rock after the comedian joked about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s medical condition, alopecia through a G.I. Jane reference. In the days following the incident, Jada has remained quiet about everything until now (sort of). 

Following Will Smith’s own public apology on social media on Monday, the actress took to Instagram to share a cryptic post about “healing.” Check it out: 

Jada Pinkett Smith did not make a specific comment about the Oscars situation. She only posted the above sentence to her social media. She may have written it herself or may have pulled it elsewhere, but it says “This is a season for healing and I’m here for it.” 

Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on stage (in an unplanned and very real altercation) became the talk of the night just prior to Will Smith accepting his first Oscar for his performance in one of this year’s Best Picture nominees, King Richard. During the speech Smith mentioned the incident, saying he was being called on to “protect” people along with saying “love will make you do crazy things.” 

Since the incident sent the 2022 Oscars into an unforeseen direction, Chris Rock has remained silent on the situation, but reportedly declined to press charges. The Academy is conducting a “formal review” of Smith’s conduct that will determine what courses of action will be taken following the event. Smith took to Instagram Monday to say the following: 

Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.

Smith went on to apologize to Chris Rock, The Academy, the Williams family and the public. He shared that he “deeply regrets” his behavior on Oscars night. Jada Pinkett Smith’s post could be read as an update about how the family is holding up after the situation. Perhaps the actress is witnessing “healing” between Will Smith and other people in her inner circle affected by Will Smith’s actions. 

One positive that may have come out of the public moment on television is more people are becoming aware of Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia and the medical condition itself. Back in 2018, Jada confirmed that she was diagnosed with alopecia, which she called “terrifying” as she described being in the shower and finding handfuls of hair in her hands. 

According to an unlikely source, Diddy, Will Smith and Chris Rock are having no problems squashing their public beef. Even though the incident was certainly shocking and crossed lines, it looks like the Smith family are doing alright as they attempt to move forward. 

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.