Tiffany Haddish has officially taken Will Smith’s side after he slapped Chris Rock for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, at the 94th annual Oscars on Sunday night, calling it “beautiful.”
Chris Rock made the joke in poor taste about the 50-year-old actor, Jada Pinkett-Smith. Saying that, he was looking forward to seeing her performance in a G.I. Jane sequel. The blatant attempt at making fun of her not having any hair was not received well by her husband, the 53-year-old actor/rapper/producer Will Smith.
The smile melted off of Jada’s face when she realized the joke was only at her expense. Will Smith then stoically marched onto the stage from their table in the front row and slapped Chris Rock right across his face. After the brief encounter, Smith was heard repeatedly telling the comedian to “Leave my wife’s name out of your f—king mouth.”
Jada had been in a candid interview in 2018 where she revealed that she suffers from the autoimmune disease, Alopecia. She had released an emotional video in July of 2021, explaining that her daughter Willow was the inspiration and support for her to buzz it all off and showcase her freshly shaven head on social media.
Tiffany Haddish supports Will Smith and his defense of Jada Pinkett-Smith
At the Governor’s Ball, after the Oscars had concluded, PEOPLE spoke with the 42-year-old comedian and actor Tiffany Haddish, asking for her opinion following the evening’s shocking altercation.
Tiffany called it “beautiful” and went on to explain, “And that meant the world to me. And maybe the world might not like how it went down, but for me, it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.”
This was not the first time Chris Rock has hurled jokes at Jada Pinkett-Smith
In 2016, Chris Rock hosted the Oscars, while many others decided to boycott because of ‘Oscars So White.’ Jada Pinkett-Smith was among those who chose to stay home in protest and was vocal about it leading up to the event.
Chris Rock chose to mock her for not showing up, saying that specifically Jada “boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.”
Will Smith wrote and released his autobiography in late 2021, detailing the domestic violence he endured
Will Smith recently wrote about his father and the brutal assaults he and his siblings could do nothing but watch. He also detailed the guilt he still feels for not intervening and helping his mother.
Smith shared this about his feelings regarding shame for the inactivity, “Within everything that I have done since then — the awards and accolades, the spotlights and attention, the characters and the laughs — there has been a subtle string of apologies to my mother for my inaction that day. For failing her in the moment. For failing to stand up to my father. For being a coward.”