Months after Chris Rock’s Chris Rock: Selective outrage Airing on Netflix, Jada Pinkett Smith shares her thoughts on the comedy special.
In an interview with The New York TimesPublished online Saturday, Pinkett Smith responded to Rock mocking her and Will Smith during his special, which came after the infamous Oscars blowout.
“I remember my heart sinking, my heart breaking, and I remember my feelings being so hurt,” she said. “And then I remember being able to smile and wish him well at the same time.”
At the time, many viewers tuned into the special to hear Rock address the moment he was punched by Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards. The comedian not only dragged Smith during the program, but also focused on Pinkett Smith and the marital problems of the couple.
“People asked me if it hurt,” he said during the special. “Yes, that stuff hurt! I was hit so hard that I heard ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”
Rock later added, “Will Smith practices selective outrage. Outrage because everyone knows what the hell happened. Anyone who really knows knows I have nothing to do with that shit. I have had no complications.”
Pinkett Smith, whose new memoir, Worthyhits shelves on October 17 and was also recently revealed in an exclusive sit-down interview for Jada’s Story: An NBC News Special with Hoda Kotb that she initially didn’t realize that Smith actually punched Rock during the show.
She kept that up as she rolled her eyes at Rock’s GI Jane 2 commenting on her nearly bald head, due to her battle with alopecia she thought Smith’s response was a planned part of the awards ceremony.
Pinkett Smith explained that she later realized, when his publicist told her, “Chris has left the building and he’s not going to press charges,” that her husband, from whom she has been living apart since 2016, had hit the comedian.
