Jada Pinkett Smith is getting candid about Will Smith’s infamous Oscar slap, which she now credits with helping her realize she was “never going to leave” her husband.
In a new interview for Daily mail‘s YOU Magazine, the 52-year-old actress explained that Will’s decision to slap Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars earned her a new title: “Holy Slap.”
“I almost didn’t attend the Oscars that year, but I’m glad I did,” Jada told the newspaper.
“Now I call it a ‘holy slap’ because so many positive things came after it.”
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith attend Vanity Fair’s 2022 Oscar Party Kevin Mazur/VF22/WireImage for Vanity Fair Jada Pinkett Smith celebrates ‘perfect’ Thanksgiving with husband Will Smith and their three children
According to Jada, the Oscar controversy – in which she is The Fresh Prince alum, 55, slapped Rock after he joked about the actress’ appearance during the ceremony – taking a toll on their marriage.
“The s— hitting the fan moment is when you see where you really are,” said Jada, who previously revealed that she and Will had been separated for seven years. “After all these years of trying to figure out if I was going to leave Will, I needed that slap in the face to see that I would never leave him.”
She added: “Who knows where our relationship would be if that hadn’t happened?”
In an interview with LJUDI in October on the occasion of the publication of his memoirs, WorthyJada shared that at first she thought the Oscars moment was a “sketch.”
“Like many people who watched the incident unfold on live TV, she didn’t believe it was real at first. “I thought, ‘There’s no way Will’s going to hit him,'” she said. “It wasn’t until Will started went back to my chair that I even realized it wasn’t a skit.” The first words she said to Will after they were alone after the show were “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be there for him,” she added, “but also let him figure this out on his own.”
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Jada Pinkett Smith appears at the 2023 Miami Book Fair at Miami Dade College.
Jason Koerner/Getty Images
Will Smith released a humorous ‘Official Statement’ video following the revelations about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s marriage
As for Will, Emancipation star opened up about his “adversities over the past few years” last week at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia.
During the conversation in front of the audience, he described in detail his relationship to fame.
“Fame is a unique monster,” Smith said, according to footage shared online by Deadline. “I had to be very careful.”
“You can’t get excited when everyone says good things about you, because the more you take when people say good things about you, the more you’ll be hurt when people say bad things about you,” he added. .
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Smith also explained the importance of being “clear about who I am and what I’m trying to do in the world,” and that I don’t need others to “applaud me to stay focused on my mission.”
“I am in the process of perfecting my virtue. I would say the biggest thing that has happened is that I have been deeply humbled and deeply inspired to perfect my light,” he said. “And that’s what this next phase of my life is going to be – perfecting and shining my light as brightly as I can, on as many people as possible.”
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Source: HIS Education