The state of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s marriage has been a subject of fascination in recent years, even attracting the interest of Chris Rock, as disclosed by Pinkett Smith.
“Every summer, there were widespread reports claiming that Will and I were on the brink of divorce,” Pinkett Smith revealed in an interview with People magazine. “And during one such summer, Chris [Rock] believed that we were heading for a divorce. So he reached out to me and essentially said, ‘I’d love to take you out.'”
Pinkett Smith admitted that the call caught her off guard. “I was like, ‘What do you mean?'” she recounted. “He said, ‘Aren’t you and Will getting a divorce?’ I replied, ‘No, Chris, those are just rumors.’ He was shocked, and he profusely apologized, and that was the end of it.”
CNN has sought comments from representatives of Chris Rock regarding this matter.
Pinkett Smith is set to detail this encounter in her upcoming memoir, “Worthy.” Notably, her husband, Will Smith, famously slapped Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars telecast, following a joke Rock made about Pinkett Smith’s alopecia-related hair loss.
Reflecting on the 2016 Oscars, Pinkett Smith explained, “I believe there was a misunderstanding between Chris and me.” In that year, Rock was hosting the awards show, and Pinkett Smith had called for an Oscars boycott as part of the #OscarsSoWhite movement after her husband was snubbed for his performance in “Concussion.” Pinkett Smith now acknowledges that she may not have fully grasped the pressure Rock was under at the time. She shared, “I probably should have called him and asked, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ Just to let him know that, despite me speaking out about the Oscars, I genuinely wish you the best, and I’m here for you.”
The two eventually reconciled after the 2016 incident, issuing apologies to each other.
Pinkett Smith disclosed that Rock made an effort to speak with her during a break in the 2022 Oscars ceremony, hoping to apologize. “He said, ‘I didn’t mean any harm,'” Pinkett Smith recounted. “I told him, ‘I can’t discuss this now, Chris. This is ancient history.’ I believed it was about the 2016 Oscars and the issues they had dating back to the late ’80s, well before I entered the picture. I felt that it was something Will and Chris needed to address themselves.”
Jada Pinkett Smith’s memoir is slated for publication on October 17.