Staying tough. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith aren’t letting the 2022 Oscars slap scandal affect their relationship “in any way,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly.
“They stick together through thick and thin,” the insider says. “They have been through a lot together and this is just another battle for them.”
The Red Table Talk cohost, 50, “absolutely loves and adores” her husband, 53, despite his controversial actions at the 94th Academy Awards, the source tells Us, noting that they are “an unbreakable couple [that] will be together forever.”
Smith received backlash last month after he slapped presenter Chris Rock during March 27’s Oscars telecast for a joke about Pinkett Smith. After the Saturday Night Live alum, 57, said he was excited to see the Scream 2 actress in a potential G.I. Jane sequel, referring to her bald head, Smith stormed the stage and assaulted Rock. (Pinkett Smith, for her part, has been vocal about suffering from alopecia.)
Once the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum returned to his seat, he started shouting at the comedian. “Keep my wife’s name out your f—king mouth,” Smith yelled twice before a stunned Rock tried to get back to his presenter duties.
Later during the show, the King Richard star apologized to The Academy and his fellow actors during his acceptance speech for best actor. At the time, he didn’t address Rock.
Smith issued a public apology to the Grown Ups actor on March 28 via social media, writing, “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. … I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. … I was out of line and I was wrong.”
A source later told Us that Smith had not reach out personally to Rock after hitting him on stage. The Men in Black actor, however, has since resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences amid the organization’s formal review into the incident.
“My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable. The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home,” Smith said in a statement on Friday, April 1, explaining that he wanted to “put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements.”
He concluded: “So, I am resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate.”
Rock, for his part, has returned to his comedy tour, starting with a March 30 show in Boston, where he broke his silence over the Oscars scandal for the first time.
“I’m still processing what happened,” he told the audience at the time. After receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, Rock added, “Y’all are getting me misty eyed and s–t.”
Pinkett Smith, on the other hand, “wants to just move on,” according to the source. “She doesn’t want to be the center of attention, she doesn’t want her husband being the center of attention,” the insider tells Us.
The Gotham alum, who wed Smith in 1997, was equally as caught off guard by what transpired at the awards show last week, per the source.
“This was not how she saw the night going — no one did,” the insider adds. “He was winning one of the most important awards of his life and the entire night became about Will and Chris [and] neither of them wanted that. She hopes that they can move on.”
With reporting by Diana Cooper
