As much as some keyboard warriors have tried to pin the blame for Will Smith's infamous 2022 Oscars slap on Jada Pinkett-Smith, she's finally shed any sliver of responsibility she was accused of holding. In fact, just like the rest of us, she initially thought it was actually a sketch organized by host (and slappee) Chris Rock.
"I thought, 'This is a skit,'" Jada said in an interview published today by PEOPLE. "I was like, 'There's no way that Will hit him.' It wasn't until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realized it wasn't a skit."
She also revealed in her upcoming memoir Worthy that she and Smith had been separated for some time when the incident occurred, and thus didn't actually know why he slapped Rock.
"Even so, I am unclear on the reason why Will is so upset," reads an excerpt from the memoir. "We had been living separate lives and were there as family, not as husband and wife. But when I hear Will yell 'wife' in the chaos of the moment, an internal shift of 'Oh shit . . . I am his wife!' happens instantly."
Smith himself explained in an apology to Rock that the G.I. Jane joke about Pinkett-Smith's alopecia was "too much for me to bear."
With Rock still yet to respond to the apology and Pinkett-Smith noting that neither she nor Smith have spoken to him since the Oscars, it doesn't sound like the three have entirely patched things up — and maybe never will.
"I thought, 'This is a skit,'" Jada said in an interview published today by PEOPLE. "I was like, 'There's no way that Will hit him.' It wasn't until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realized it wasn't a skit."
She also revealed in her upcoming memoir Worthy that she and Smith had been separated for some time when the incident occurred, and thus didn't actually know why he slapped Rock.
"Even so, I am unclear on the reason why Will is so upset," reads an excerpt from the memoir. "We had been living separate lives and were there as family, not as husband and wife. But when I hear Will yell 'wife' in the chaos of the moment, an internal shift of 'Oh shit . . . I am his wife!' happens instantly."
Smith himself explained in an apology to Rock that the G.I. Jane joke about Pinkett-Smith's alopecia was "too much for me to bear."
With Rock still yet to respond to the apology and Pinkett-Smith noting that neither she nor Smith have spoken to him since the Oscars, it doesn't sound like the three have entirely patched things up — and maybe never will.
