During the Oscars, Rock referenced Pinkett-Smith's shaved head, joking that he looked forward to G.I. Jane 2. Pinkett-Smith rolled her eyes at the joke, to which Smith approached Rock on stage and gave him a slap. Returning to his seat, Smith told Rock (twice) to keep Pinkett-Smith's name out of his "f****** mouth."
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Pinkett-Smith has battled alopecia for years, being diagnosed with the condition in 2018 after noticing clumps of her hair falling out in the shower. The actress spoke at length about her diagnosis in a May 2018 episode of her webseries Red Table Talk.
“Even in my terror and even in my fear and in the moment of just going, ‘Oh, my God, like, why are you so terrified that you might lose your hair?’ I really had to put it in a spiritual perspective of, like, the higher power takes so much from people,” Pinkett-Smith said. “People are out here who have cancer, people who have sick children. I watch the higher power take things every day,” she continued. “And, by golly, if the higher power wants to take your hair, that’s hair? When I looked at it from that perspective, it really did settle me.”
On the opposite coast, Smith's mother, Carolyn Smithspoke with CNN after the Oscars alongside her daughter, Smith's sister, Ellen Smith. The two were with their family at their Philadelphia home watching the ceremony when Smith won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard. The family also got the shock of a lifetime when watching Smith slap and curse out Rock.
"He is a very even, people person," Carolyn said. "That's the first time I've ever seen him go off. First time in his lifetime."
