While the Academy Awards aired nearly a month ago, the conversation surrounding the event hasn’t slowed down much. This is mostly due to Will Smith’s infamous slapping of Chris Rock, and the discourse that has continued as a result. Now Jada Pinkett Smith has returned to the Red Table Talk, which opened with a message addressing what’s “happened” after the Oscars slap moment.
Late into the evening of the Academy Awards, presenter Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, seemingly unaware of her struggles with alopecia. This prompted Will Smith to step on stage and slap the comic, shortly before giving a tear-filled acceptance speech for the Best Actor award. The fallout for the slap has been ongoing, and now Jada has addressed it in the opening of the new episode of Red Table Talk. The message reads:
Considering all that has happened in the last few weeks, the Smith family has been focusing on deep healing. Some of the discoveries around our healing will be shared at the table when the time calls. Until then… the table will continue offering itself to powerful, inspiring and healing testimonies like that of our incredibly impressive first guest.
There you have it. While this first episode featuring Janelle Monae didn’t feature Jada Pinkett and Willow Smith focusing on the aftermath of the Oscars slap, it seems that those discussions are going to come up on the program organically in the future. Folks will just have to continue tuning in and waiting for the family to address Will Smith’s already infamous slapping of Chris Rock on national television.
Given how much Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock has dominated the news cycle over the last month, it’s likely been a difficult time for Jada Pinkett Smith’s family. Exactly how the group of celebs are doing their “deep healing” remains a mystery for the time being, but the incident clearly had personal and professional ramifications. One can only imagine how tense things are behind the scenes.
Since the Academy Awards, Will Smith has definitely faced a professional fallout. After dropping out of the Film Academy, he was banned from attending the ceremony for a whopping ten years as a result of slapping Chris Rock. A number of Smith’s upcoming projects have also hit setbacks in the last year, and it should be interesting to see if/when the recent Oscar winner will book new jobs.
While Will Smith has issued an apology to Chris Rock and dropped out of the Academy, Jada Pinkett Smith has been noticeably more tight-lipped during the ongoing fallout from the slap. As such, the opening statement from Red Table Talk is sure to turn a few heads. And smart money says that more folks will be tuning in to see if/when the controversy is addressed.
For her part, Jada Pinkett Smith has a number of projects coming down the line, both as an actor and producer. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.