They remain, to this day, one of Hollywood’s most fascinating couples. Immensely famous, and yet, mysterious to the general public. Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have been together since the 1990s – they met on the set of Smith’s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1994 – and have endured more than their fair share of highs and lows. The most infamous has to be the moment when Will Smith defended Jada during the live Oscars telecast, slapping Chris Rock on stage after the comedian made a joke at Pinkett Smith’s defense. And now, in a new interview, Jada is opening up on the record about the evening, and her reaction.
Jada Pinkett Smith has a new book arriving in stores called “Worthy,” and as part of the promotional tour, she sat down with People magazine to trace a throughline through her career. In the interview, she touches on her Baltimore roots, the formation of her family, and a deep depression that led to suicidal thoughts. And yes, she addresses “The Slap,” telling People that she had no idea it was going to happen, or the full implications of it at the moment. Said Pinkett Smith:
I thought, ‘This is a skit.’ 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.
That’s basically how most of us felt in the moment. I know, personally, that I thought it was a planned interaction. And it wasn’t until we watched Chris Rock try and recover, then Will Smith screaming obscenities during a live television broadcast, that I realized none of this was staged. Will Smith has opened up about the incident, and Chris Rock used it as fodder for a comedy hour that aired on Netflix. But hearing Jada Pinkett Smith admit that she, too, thought it was a skit is unusual, and more than a little honest.
The rest of the conversation with People is brutally honest, as well. It’s admirable to read Jada Pinkett Smith’s admissions about her struggles with depression and her suicidal feelings. The way she tells it:
While I was really living the dream, I hit a huge wall — a massive amount of depression. I think that I looked at having outside sources to supplement for the voids that I was feeling inside. ‘Just kill yourself. You’re not worth anything, you ain’t s—.’ I started looking for places, cliffs where I could have an accident, because I didn’t want my kids to think that their mother had committed suicide.
Will Smith has since apologized to Chris Smith following the incident, but he still has been banned from attending the Oscars, which likely wasn’t the outcome the King Richard star wanted following his anticipated Best Actor win. It led to a memorable acceptance speech, and an apology tour. And now we will see if audiences have moved on from the Slap when Smith reteams with Martin Lawrence for Bad Boys 4, one of many upcoming movies that we have on our radar.