Jada Pinkett Smith Says Chris Rock Told Her ‘I Didn’t Mean You Any Harm’ After Oscars Incident (Exclusive)

Jada Pinkett Smith says Chris Rock tried to apologize right after that controversial incident at the Oscars with Will Smith.

At the 2022 Oscars, Chris, 58, was presenting the award on stage when he joked about Jada’s shaved head. Will, 55, hit back at the comment and shouted at Chris from his seat before walking up to the comedian and punching him in the face during the live show.

During an extensive interview with PEOPLE, Worthy Author Jada (52) revealed that in the moments after, when there was a break in the broadcast, Chris approached her.

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“Chris came down to the end of the stage and tried to apologize to me,” she recalls. “He said: ‘I meant you no harm.’ I said, ‘I can’t talk about this now, Chris. This is someone old with…’. ”

“I have to leave it up to Will and Chris to talk about it, but they certainly got theirs,” adds Jada.

A rep for Chris did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; David Livingston/Getty

As for the slap, Jada remembers being so taken aback that at first she “thought it was a skit.”

“From where I was sitting, I couldn’t tell. It didn’t look like Will hit Chris, because, number one, I’ve seen Will in a boxing ring with professional fighters — Will is a heavy hitter,” she says.

Jada Pinkett Smith.

Amy Sussman/Getty

“So when Chris moved, it looked like he ducked or missed the shot. And when he kept standing, and then when he kept walking down to the end of the stage, I said, ‘No way. There’s no way he Will hit.’ ”

“It wasn’t until Will started walking back to his chair that I realized it wasn’t a skit,” adds Jada. “I was as foggy as anyone else in that room that night.”

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Jada remembers trying to “keep grounded and calm for the people around us, especially Will” in the immediate aftermath.

“I wasn’t really sure what was going on. I just knew, one thing I’ve learned from everything I’ve been through is to stay calm, stay clear. Just so you can stay aware of what’s going on around you.”

Responding to Chris’ sharp line about her shaved head, Jada, who lives with alopecia, tells PEOPLE, “I mean, that’s what comedians do. I’d just like to say that I’m not really here to pass any judgment on how people choose to express themselves and express their art. I will say that they definitely hurt me a few times. Chris hurt me a lot. But at the end of the day, also, being in the spotlight comes with the territory.”

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Will, who was banned from Academy events for 10 years, resigned from the Academy and apologized in the meantime. Rock addressed the incident via his Netflix comedy special in March, saying, in part, “Anyone who really knows knows I had nothing to do with that s—.”

In her book Worthyout Tuesday, Jada recounts that Oscars night, revealing that she and Will have lived “separate lives” for years, attending the ceremony “as a family, not as husband and wife.”

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Source: HIS Education