Will Smith's wife Jada on actor's Oscar-slap incident: 'Took that slap for me to see that I will never leave him'

Will Smith’s slap to the host of the Academy Awards 2022 Chris Rock overshadowed his maiden win as the Best Actor at what remains one of the biggest controversial moments in Oscar history. There were also rumors that Smith and his wife Jada were living separately for a while. Addressing all of this in a recent interview with the Daily Mail, she said, “After all those years trying to figure out if I would leave Will’s side, it took that slap for me to see I will never leave him.”

She added, “Who knows where our relationship would be if that hadn’t happened?”

Smith left a shocking impression last year at the Academy Awards after he slapped comedian Chris Rock onstage for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. While it has been almost a year since the infamous incident took place, the world clearly still can’t stop talking about it.

Rock who was presenting an award cracked a joke comparing Will Smith’s hair to Demi Moore’s appearance in the film ‘G.I. Jane’, leaving the couple upset. It was immediately after that, the actor went on stage and slapped him. With the incident left millions shocked, Chris Rock has for the first time opened up at length about the scandal.

Performing at his stand-up special ‘Chris Rock: Selective Outrage‘, streamed live on Netflix, the 58-year-old comedian touched upon a slew of topics including last year’s Oscars controversy. Taking a jibe at the incident, Rock in his witty style said, “That’s what they say. Gotta watch what you say cause words hurt. You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock further adding, “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”

While the audience was left in splits over his snarky comment, Rock went on to speak on a wide range of topics including Meghan Markle, the Kardashians and abortion rights, among others.