Will Smith: What illness is his wife Jada Pinkett Smith suffering from?

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars after a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair. But what illness does the actor's wife have?

Will Smith: What illness is his wife Jada Pinkett Smith suffering from?
© ABC/Getty
Will Smith: What illness is his wife Jada Pinkett Smith suffering from?

A mixed night for Will Smith. But it was a historic night for cinema, and especially for the Oscars. The ceremony, which was celebrating its 94th edition, was marked by an unexpected moment: Chris Rock was slapped on stage by an angry Will Smith. And it wasn't staged.

Discover our latest podcast

What happened?

While Chris Rock was speaking on stage at the Oscars, he compared Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved hair to the GI Jane sequel. This did not sit well with Will Smith, who went on stage to slap his counterpart.

Chris Rock reacted:

Wow. Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.

For his part, Will Smith, who had regained his place in the audience with his wife, said:

Keep my wife's name out of your f*****g mouth.

Later in the evening, Will Smith received the Oscar for Best Actor for King Richard. The first statuette of the actor's career.

Read more:

Prince Harry and Meghan: This is why they were axed from this year’s Oscars

Britain’s Got Talent: Return date of the show confirmed after two years

Deaf actor Troy Kotsur first to win Screen Actors Guild Award

What illness is Jada Pinkett Smith suffering from?

At this event, as has been the case for several weeks now, Jada Pinkett Smith presented herself with a shaved head. Not necessarily an aesthetic choice, but rather a choice due to an illness from which the 50-year-old suffers. Indeed, Will Smith's wife suffers from alopecia, an auto-immune disease. To put it simply, here is the definition of alopecia in the Larousse dictionary:

Total or partial loss of hair due to age, genetic factors or following a local or general affection

Jaden and Willow's mother has been suffering from alopecia for several months now and has never hesitated to speak publicly about it. Last December, she announced that her condition was getting worse, she said at the time:

This alopecia and I are going to be friends,

It was in 2018 that Jada Pinkett Smith first spoke about the condition:

It was terrifying when it started. I was in the shower one day and I just had whole handfuls of hair in my hands. I thought I was going bald. It was the first time in my life that I literally shook with fear.

And even though she prefers to ‘laugh about it’, as she said herself, the disease remains a sensitive subject, as her husband's reaction proves.

This article has been translated from Oh!MyMag FR.

Will Smith: Who is August Alsina, Jada Pinkett Smith's lover? Will Smith: Who is August Alsina, Jada Pinkett Smith's lover?