People have successfully blocked this out of their memory banks, but for months in the fall of 2021, Will Smith was promoting his memoir and it felt like every single day for two solid months, there was some crazy headline about Will – like, having sex was triggering his gag reflex, or ridiculously personal stuff about his marriage. People forgot all about that when he slapped Chris Rock. Now, two years later, Jada has written her own memoir and we’re going through the same thing – every day is a new headline about Will, Chris Rock or Tupac. Well, we heard previously that Jada and Will had been separated for six years before the 2022 Oscars, and now Jada is saying that she was shocked that Will referred to Jada as “my wife” when he screamed at Rock on stage:

Will Smith shocked America when he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars and uttered a now infamous sentence in defense of Jada Pinkett Smith: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth.”

But Jada was surprised for a different reason, as Will had not called her his “wife” for a while before that.

“First of all, I’m really shocked, because mind you, I’m not there. We haven’t called each other husband and wife in a long time,” Jada told Hoda Kotb in an NBC News primetime special while promoting her upcoming memoir, “Worthy,” out Oct. 17. “I’m like, ‘What is going on right now? Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth?’ I’m really worried for Will because I don’t know what’s going on.”

At the 2022 Oscars, Will stormed the stage and struck Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada’s bald head. Jada, who has alopecia, rolled her eyes after Rock jokingly referred to her as G.I. Jane.

“I did that eye roll not so much for me — and I think this is really important — but the fact that there could be a jab at alopecia,” Jada told Kotb in a new clip.

[From Variety]

I’m not with Jada on this one – even though they were separated, they were still “together” at public events and Will had literally been referring to Jada as his wife for months as he promoted his memoir and King Richard. Why would Jada suddenly be shocked by that? Besides, it’s also clear that Chris, Jada and Will have some incredibly complicated history, history which included Will and Chris having words years prior to that night, all about Will’s “wife.”

Meanwhile, Jada also shared her feelings on Rock’s Netflix special, which aired earlier this year. That was where Rock called Jada a “bitch” a dozen times and blamed the slap on her, and claimed that Jada “started it.” This was Jada’s reaction:

“I remember my heart piercing, my heart cracking, and I remember my feelings being so hurt,” Jada told the outlet.

“And then I remember being able to smile and wish him well at the same time,” she continued.

[From People]

For someone who talks the language of healing, therapy, ownership and mindfulness, it’s surprising to hear Jada soften her language around Rock consistently. I get it, the last thing she wants to do is come across like “an Angry Black Woman,” but meeting each one of Rock’s escalating humiliations with forced grace is just a strange way to exist. Like, this is the moment (when she’s truly telling her side of things) to actually say “that was really awful, he hurt me and it’s not okay and I don’t have any interest in dealing with his sh-t anymore.” She’s overemphasizing that his humiliations are like water off a duck’s back.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.