Just when you thought we were done talking about that Oscars slap, it comes right back. Last night, while promoting her new memoir, Worthy, Jada Pinkett Smith shared a surprising revelation about the controversial award show incident, claiming that seeing husband Will Smith slap Chris Rock actually helped her and Smith’s marriage.
When the 94th Academy Awards took place in March 2022, Smith and Pinkett Smith were separated (and had been since 2016), the Girls Trip star said—so she was initially shocked when Smith called her his 'wife' while defending her to Rock—but that evening ultimately made her want to recommit to their relationship.
'When I was sitting at the Oscars, it clicked in. As soon as I was like, ‘Oh, snap, you hit Chris?’ I was like, I’m riding with you. I didn’t come into this place as your wife, but I’m leaving here as your wife, because we got a storm we’re going to have to deal with together. I am not gonna leave your side,' she said during an in-person conversation, in partnership with CAA and Vanity Fair, at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York City.
Read Next
Pinkett Smith said at the event that she and Smith 'did some really deep work together' after the Oscars incident, and she told Hoda Kotb on the Today show that the two are now 'working hard at bringing our relationship together. Back to a life partnership.'
'There’s no finding another great love,' she told Kotb.
Smith and Pinkett Smith married in 1997 and share two kids, Jaden, 25, and Willow, 22. Smith additionally has 30-year-old son Trey from his first marriage, to Sheree Zampino.
Rosa Sanchez is the senior news editor at Harper's Bazaar, working on news as it relates to entertainment, fashion, and culture. Previously, she was a news editor at ABC News and, prior to that, a managing editor of celebrity news at American Media. She has also written features for Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, Forbes, and The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets.
