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Sounds like The Slap may have been about a little more than just Chris Rock's poor taste G.I. Jane joke. Jada Pinkett Smith revealed in an exclusive interview to People that a number of events that precipitated the infamous Oscars incident may have figured in to Will Smith's stunning reaction — probably none more so than Jada's shocking truth bomb that Chris Rock once asked her out during her marriage to Smith.
“I think every summer all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce,” Pinkett Smith explained. “And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce. So he called me and basically he was like, ‘I'd love to take you out.' And I was like, ‘What do you mean?' He was like, ‘Well, aren't you and Will getting a divorce?' I was like, ‘No. Chris, those are just rumors.' He was appalled. And he profusely apologized and that was that.”
Awk-ward. Then, in 2016, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith had a disagreement over the 2016 Oscars. That was the year Will Smith was snubbed for his lead acting performance in the film Concussion, and there were no actors of color nominated in the acting categories. Jada Pinkett Smith was calling for a boycott of the ceremony, as part of the #OscarsSoWhite movement; meanwhile, Chris Rock was set to host the telecast.
According to Rock in his Netflix comedy special released earlier this year, Jada told him he should step down from hosting out of solidarity.
Now, Pinkett Smith is confessing to People to “not really recognizing the level of pressure [Chris] might've been under” at the time.
She added, “I probably should have called him and gone, ‘Hey, are you okay? And just know that although I'm speaking out about the Oscars, I do wish you the best and I just want you to know that,' me taking the time to have called him and said that, just to touch base. But his feelings might've been hurt.”
However, Pinkett Smith added that Rock called her shortly thereafter and she thought the beef was squashed.
“He apologized and I apologized to him as well,” she explained. “So I actually thought that we were good, that the hatchet was buried between us. And we hadn't talked since then, until 2022 came.”
Sounds like there was a lot of personal backstory behind The Slap heard 'round the world. Lucky for us, Jada Pinkett Smith reveals even more about it in her new memoir Worthy, due out October 17.
