To quickly recap what happened, Will walked on stage at last year’s award show and struck host Chris Rock across the face after he made a joke about Jada’s bald head. The comedian, who reportedly had “no idea” that Jada has alopecia, told Will and the other audience members that it was just a “G.I. Jane joke,” to which Will yelled, “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth.”
Several people have long accused Jada of being the one to tell Will to slap Chris, given that she was filmed rolling her eyes at Chris’s comment while Will initially seemed to laugh. However, Will spoke out in defense of Jada last July and stated that she had “nothing to do” with his decision. Instead, he said his choice to slap Chris was based on his personal “experiences” and “history” with him.
Fast forward to this month, and Jada is looking back on the night of the 2022 Oscars in detail ahead of the release of her tell-all memoir, Worthy.
Jada also said that she was confused about why Will was “so upset” given that — as she recently shockingly revealed — they weren’t actually together at the time, and haven’t been for the past 7 years.
Jada revealed during a bombshell interview that she and Will, who tied the knot in 1997 and share two kids, have been living “completely separate lives” since 2016. Jada added that the pair had gotten “exhausted with trying” to fix their marriage, which she said had been “fractured” by “a lot of things.”
While the pair were secretly separated, they found themselves at the centre of infidelity rumors time and again, including when Jada had an “entanglement” with singer August Alsina.
With all this in mind, Jada is now reflecting on what it was like being “blamed” for Will’s Oscars slap.
Speaking with People, Jada said that while she found it “ridiculous” that she was accused of being the one to tell Will to slap Chris, she also “wasn’t surprised.”
“It was ridiculous how far it went,” she said. “But I also understood at the same time. Considering the false narrative that I had cheated on Will or I was some adulteress. Will had never done that before.”
“I think that when we just look at human nature… When you look at the breadcrumbs, people need something to blame,” she went on.
“And so people not knowing what was happening behind the scenes, I surely wasn’t surprised that I got blamed,” she added. “But I understood that that’s just the human nature of it all.”
Jada’s memoir, Worthy, will be released next week on Oct. 17.