Months after Chris Rock‘s Chris Rock: Selective Outrage aired on Netflix, Jada Pinkett Smith is sharing her thoughts on the comedy special.
In an interview with The New York Times, published online Saturday, Pinkett Smith reacted to Rock mocking her and Will Smith during his special, which came after the infamous Oscars slap.
“I remember my heart piercing, my heart cracking, and I remember my feelings being so hurt,” she said. “And then I remember being able to smile and wish him well at the same time.”
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At the time, many viewers tuned in to the special to hear Rock address the moment he was slapped by Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards. The comedian not only dragged Smith during the program but also targeted Pinkett Smith and the couple’s marital issues.
“People asked me if it hurt,” he said during the special. “Yes, that shit hurt! I got hit so hard, I heard ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”
Rock later added, “Will Smith practices selective outrage. Outrage because everybody knows what the fuck happened. Everybody that really knows, knows that I have nothing to do with that shit. I didn’t have any entanglements.”
Pinkett Smith, whose new memoir, Worthy, hits bookshelves on Oct. 17, also recently revealed in an exclusive sit-down interview for Jada’s Story: An NBC News Special with Hoda Kotb that she didn’t initially realize Smith actually slapped Rock during the show.
She insisted that when she rolled her eyes at Rock’s G.I. Jane 2 comment at her nearly bald head, due to her battle with alopecia, she thought Smith’s reaction was a planned part of the awards ceremony.
Pinkett Smith explained that it was later, when his publicist told her, “Chris has left the building and he’s not going to press charges,” that she realized her husband, whom she has been living separately from since 2016, hit the comedian.
