Source: Future Publishing / Getty
As the world is still reeling from the slap that Will Smith delivered to Chris Rock at the Academy Awards last weekend, a newly found video captures Jada Pinkett Smith’s reaction to the incident in real-time.
According to reports, a clip shared on TikTok Thursday morning (March 31st )showed the entirety of the incident from a vantage point behind the table where the Smiths were sitting during the ceremony. The forty-second video was posted by TikTok user 305hoodhero, though it is still unclear where they obtained the footage.
The clip begins directly after the King Richard actor was returning to his seat after approaching Rock on stage and slapping him in the face in response to the comedian’s joke referencing the 1997 film G.I. Jane about his wife. Pinkett Smith had been open about her baldness and suffering from the autoimmune disorder alopecia. “Will Smith just smacked the s— out of me.”, Rock said in a stunned manner. Jada can be seen laughing at that line. Will Smith sits and yells at the comedian, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth.” Rock replies, “Wow, dude, it was a G.I. Jane joke,” and Smith repeats himself in a louder and more agitated tone. Jada is seen sitting stiffly with her back straight during the exchange, but appears to chuckle as Rock ends with the line, “That was the … greatest night in the history of television.”
Clips of the incident that were published throughout the week captured Pinkett Smith with an unamused look on her face as there was a focus on the altercation between her husband and Rock. Will Smith would apologize to those in attendance during his acceptance speech for winning the Best Actor award later that night, but he pointedly did not address the comedian. He would later apologize to Chris Rock directly in an Instagram post the next day. For her part, Pinkett Smith has only spoken publicly through an Instagram post she made on Tuesday, saying “This is a season for healing and I’m here for it.”