Twitter is still flooded with reactions following the altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards last night (March 27). Rock made a joke at Pinkett's expense, calling her “G.I. Jane” because of her bald head. But either he failed to get the memo or cared little about Pinkett's alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. Since she revealed her diagnosis in 2018, the actress has been vocal about her struggles with the condition.
Despite understanding why Smith defended his wife, many thought it was in poor taste, especially on live television. Nicki Minaj, however, falls into the former category. The self-described Black Barbie took to Twitter to share her thoughts on the situation on Monday morning (March 28).
“I love Chris Rock,” she began. “I don’t think he would’ve made that joke had he known what Jada recently shared- but between him & the whole team @ the #Oscars you mean to tell me not ONE of y’all heard this woman just share this heartbreaking story? #ComeOnSon … The husband gets a front row seat to his wife’s pain… he’s the 1 consoling her… drying her tears behind closed doors when those cameras go off. Social media has made ppl feel that these ‘husbands’ won’t ever run into them in real life.”
The second the G.I. Jane jab flew out of Chris Rock’s mouth, the look on Jada Pinkett’s face noticeably changed from happy to visibly offended. Smith initially laughed, but his wife's look probably prompted him to slap Rock across the face on stage. Once back in his seat, he repeated, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” In an uncensored clip of the confrontation, Rock humbly replied, “I’m going to, OK?”
In a subsequent tweet, Nicki wrote, “You just got to witness in real time what happens in a man’s soul when he looks over to the woman he loves & sees her holding back tears from a ‘little joke’ at her expense. This is what any & every real man feels in that instant. while y’all seeing the joke he’s seeing her pain.”
She added, “Imagine what it must feel like to be losing your hair to the point where you have to shave it bald. You think that’s easy to deal with for anyone?” You don’t think she’s cried about that many times? 2022 y’all gon have to see these men about those jokes you made about their wives.”
After the slap, Smith won an Oscar for his performance in King Richard, his first leading role. Despite not directly apologizing to Rock in his speech, he did express regret for causing a scene.