Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at Oscars: Jada Pinkett Smith breaks silence
Jada Pinkett Smith has finally spoken after her husband Will Smith’s violent outburst at the Oscars as Jim Carrey slams “spineless” guests.
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Jada Pinkett Smith has finally broken her silence after her husband Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars over a joke about her shaved head.
“This is a season for healing and I’m here for it,” the actress posted to Instagram, two days after the incident that stunned Hollywood and millions of viewers.
Pinkett Smith, 50, posted the words on a pink background, but did not share a caption.
Later, the couple’s daughter Willow, 21, posted another pointed message on her Instagram stories.
Her post read: “You know who’s going through a lot right now? Literally everyone. Just be kind.”
The posts come less than 24 hours after Will Smith issued an apology for slapping Rock.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” he wrote.
“My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.
“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
It comes amid fierce backlash against Smith for his violent outburst.
Comedian Jim Carrey slammed Smith for slapping Rock — and hit out at the “spineless” audience of A-listers who gave the actor a standing ovation when he was named best actor moments later.
“I was sickened. I was sickened by the standing ovation,” Carrey told Gayle King in a “CBS Mornings” interview that aired in the US on Tuesday.
“Hollywood is just spineless en masse and it really felt like this is a really clear indication that we aren’t the cool club anymore,” Carrey, 60, said of the audience’s response to Smith.
The Dumb and Dumber star added that Smith should have been arrested and sued over the assault.
“I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million because that video is going to be there forever, it’s going to be ubiquitous,” Carrey claimed.
“That insult is gonna last a very long time.”
King then suggested that the incident “escalated,” prompting Carrey to respond: “It didn’t escalate, it came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that’s frustrated.”
The NY Post reports that Carrey and Smith have met on multiple occasions, with Carrey claiming he wishes no ill will toward the newly minted Oscar winner. “I wish him the best, I really do… He’s done great things. But that was not a good moment. It cast a pall over everybody’s shining moment,” the star declared. “It was such a selfish moment that cast a pall over the whole thing.”
TMZ reports that comedian Rock was shocked and bewildered when Smith stormed the stage and slapped him after he made fun of Pinkett Smith, with an insider claiming that the comedian “doesn’t have a mean bone in his body”.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rock’s joke was unscripted and had not been vetted by producers of the Oscars ceremony in rehearsals. The comedian did an earlier rehearsal of his routine in front of Academy officials that didn’t include the gaffe, The Hollywood Reporter said.
Rock did not know that Pinkett Smith suffered from alopecia, which causes hair loss, when he made his “off-the-cuff” joke, it has been reported.
The drama began when Rock took to the stage to present the Oscar for best documentary.
He kicked off his segment with a well-received joke about husband and wife Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz both being nominated.
Rock then segued into his now infamous joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss.
His joke referenced the 1997 move G.I Jane in which Demi Moore plays a bald Marine.
“Jada, I love you, G.I Jane 2 can’t wait to see it”, Rock said and Smith initially appeared to laughed it off before marching on stage.
He slapped Rock in the face before returning to his seat and repeatedly screaming: “Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!”.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences condemned Smith’s actions and “officially started a formal review around the incident”.
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