Willow Smith is keeping it moving in the wake of her father, Will Smith, slapping comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars over a joke about Will’s wife — and Willow’s mother —Jada Pinkett Smith. The young singer, 21, was spotted enjoying a lunch date with her boyfriend De’Wayne in Malibu on Thursday (March 31). The adorable couple was all smiles as Willow rocked a black leather jacket, with her musician beau keeping it casual in a denim one.
The outing in the seaside town of Los Angeles comes a few days after she took to Instagram to share an uplifting, albeit cryptic, message. The “Mad On It” songstress reposted a note from author Jay Shetty which read, “You know who’s going through a lot right now? Literally everyone. Just be kind.” Although there was no other context given for the message, it came at a crucial time when her father is dealing with the blowback from the Oscars controversy. Interestingly, Jada also shared a positive yet cryptic message that seemed to address the incident. On Tuesday, the Girls’ Trip star shared, “This is a season for healing, and I’m here for it.”
The Smith ladies’ posts followed Will making a public apology to Chris on his own Instagram. “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” he wrote. “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.”
He also apologized to Venus and Serena Williams, after winning the Best Actor gong for portraying the family’s patriarch, Richard Williams. He then concluded his mea culpa by stating that he is a “work in progress.” During Will’s Oscar acceptance speech, he apologized for the incident to his fellow nominees and the Academy, yet didn’t mention Chris by name. Meanwhile, Chris — who is reportedly not pressing charges against Will at this time — has yet to make a statement on the incident.