Jada Pinkett Smith has a lot to say about her husband, Will Smith, and Chris Rock in her memoir, Worthy. However, one of the biggest bombshells was her claim that the comedian, 58, asked her out on a date amid rumors that she and Will, 55, were divorcing.
“I think every summer all the reports would come out that me and Will were getting a divorce,” Jada, 52, told PEOPLE in an interview published on October 11. “And this particular summer, Chris, he thought that we were getting a divorce. So, he called me and, basically, he was like, ‘I’d love to take you out.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘Well, aren’t you and Will getting a divorce?’ I was like, ‘No. Chris, those are just rumors.’”
The Scream 2 actress clarified that Chris “was appalled” and “profusely apologized, and that was that.”
Jada, Will and Chris’ dynamic has become a headline-making saga since the 2022 Oscars. During the ceremony, her husband — whom Jada has been separated from since 2016 — hit and threatened the comedian after Chris seemingly made a joke about her alopecia (a condition that causes hair loss).
As for whether the Set It Off actress was hurt by Chris’ comment, Jada told the publication, “I mean, that’s what comedians do. I would just have to say that I am not really here to make any judgment on how people decide to express themselves and express their art. I’ll say that several times I’ve had my feelings hurt, for sure.”
However, Jada admitted she has “had [her] feelings hurt a lot by Chris.” But she concluded that “at the end of the day, too, being in the spotlight, it comes with the territory.” Additionally, Chris apologized to her right after Will slapped him, she recalled.
Since “the slap” became the most memorable Oscars moment in history, Jada responded to whether she has “any desire to talk to Chris” now.
“Here’s my desire: I just hope that all the misunderstanding around this can be cleared up and that there can be peace,” the Girls Trip star noted. “I talk about this in the book; I think that there might be some misunderstanding between Chris and I as far as the 2016 Oscars. I think that he might’ve taken offense, which I meant no harm in offending. That wasn’t my intention. But I do think that there’s a big misunderstanding there.”
Jada was referring to the time when she and others boycotted the Oscars in 2016 because the ceremony didn’t recognize actors of color, including Will for his performance in Concussion. At the time, she supported the viral #OscarsSoWhite campaign. However, Chris was hosting the ceremony that year, which she now admits she “probably should have called him and gone, ‘Hey, are you OK?’”
“And just know that although I’m speaking out about the Oscars, I do wish you the best and I just want you to know that,’” Jada added, referring to what she wished she had said to Chris at the time. “But his feelings might’ve been hurt. All we can ever do is just look at our part and see where could I have done something that would’ve seemed as if … Whatever misunderstanding might’ve been created, what could I have done to avoid that misunderstanding? The one thing that I think about is that call [sic].”
After Jada and Chris made amends back then, she claimed, the Daytime Emmy Award winner told the outlet that they “hadn’t talked since then, until 2022 came.”