Will Smith defended Jada Pinkett Smith after Chris Rock made a distasteful joke about her baldness—a symptom of her alopecia diagnosis, which causes hair loss—during the 2022 Oscars ceremony.
While presenting the award for Best Documentary, Rock spouted off a round of jokes that poked fun at the audience. Arriving at Pinkett Smith, the comedian told her he couldn't wait for the sequel of G.I. Jane to come out, comparing her to the titular character of the 1997 film who sports a close-shaven buzzcut.
Soon after, the King Richard star approached Rock onstage and promptly slapped him. Upon returning to his seat, Smith shouted at Rock, "Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth."
Rock has previously directed 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, Rock said, "Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties," adding, "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 also 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."
