Jada Pinkett Smith’s public plea to her husband and Chris Rock

Months after the Oscars outburst that shocked the world, Jada Pinkett Smith has issued an extraordinary public plea to both her husband and Chris Rock.

Jada Pinkett Smith has directly addressed her husband Will’s infamous Academy Awards outburst in the latest episode of her online chat show, Red Table Talk.

And looking into the camera, Jada called on both her husband and the Oscars presenter he attacked, comedian Chris Rock, to put aside their differences and make peace.

Best Actor award winner Will shocked viewers worldwide when he invaded the Oscars stage and smacked Rock, who had made a joke about Jada’s bald head. She has been open in recent years about being diagnosed with the hair loss disorder alopecia.

Jada’s latest episode of Red Table Talk was dedicated to telling the stories of those with alopecia, so she addressed the elephant in the room upfront.

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Jada Pinkett Smith on Red Table Talk.

“Now about Oscar night …”

“This is a really important Red Table Talk on alopecia. Considering what I’ve been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars,” she began.

“Now about Oscar night: My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” she said, referring to her husband and Rock.

She also seemed to suggest the reconciliation should play out on Red Table Talk, telling viewers: “The state of the world today, we need them both. And we all actually need one another more than ever. Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years, and that’s keep figuring out this thing called life together. Thank you for listening.”

Jada has used the Red Table Talk format to publicly work through family issues in the past, famously opening up about an extramarital relationship in a past episode as her husband sat and watched.

Instantly the most shocking moment in Oscars history. Picture: AFP

It’s a rare public statement from anyone in the Smith family about what went down on Oscars night, with Will keeping quiet aside from an apologetic statement released the day after the awards, saying his behaviour was “unacceptable and inexcusable.”

Rock, too, hasn’t gone into too much detail, telling the audience at his next stand-up show: “I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that sh*t. And it will be serious and funny.”

Instead, it’s been other key players from Oscars night who’ve spoken out about the outburst. Oscars co-host Wanda Sykes told Ellen that the moment left her feeling “physically ill … and I’m still a little traumatised by it.”

A tearful Will Smith won the Best Actor award just half an hour after his outburst. Picture: AFP

“I was like, ‘How gross is this?’” she told Ellen. “This is just the wrong message. If you assault somebody, you get escorted out of the building and that’s it, but for them to let him continue, I thought it was gross.”

Sykes’ Oscars co-host Amy Schumer was similarly damning, calling Smith’s outburst “a f**king bummer.

“All I can say is that it was really sad, and I think it says so much about toxic masculinity. It was really upsetting.”

Smith won the Best Actor Oscar just half an hour after slapping Rock, but since that night, his career has gone quiet, with several upcoming projects either delayed or cancelled altogether.

Originally published as Jada Pinkett Smith’s public plea to her husband and Chris Rock