Chris Rock previously made a documentary about Black women’s hair, before joking about Jada Pinkett Smith‘s shaved head at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Rock — who joked, “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see ya” to Jada before her husband, Will Smith, took the stage and struck him across the face — produced, narrated and co-wrote a documentary called Good Hair that was released in 2009. The documentary was well reviewed and won the Special Jury Prize Documentary at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
According to an official synopsis, the film follows Rock, 57, as he “visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships and self-esteem of the Black community in this exposé of comic proportions that only he could pull off.”
The synopsis continues, “A raucous adventure prompted by Rock’s daughter approaching him and asking, ‘Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?’, Good Hair shows Chris Rock engaging in frank, funny conversations with hair-care professionals, beauty shop and barbershop patrons and celebrities including Ice-T, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven-Symoné, Dr. Maya Angelou, Salt-N-Pepa, Eve and Reverend Al Sharpton — all while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughter’s question.”
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HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection Chris Rock in Good Hair (2009)
During Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, presenter Rock made the joke about Jada’s shaved head, which she recently opened up about, revealing it was a result of her years-long struggle with alopecia.
Following the remark, Jada, 50, rolled her eyes. Will then took to the stage and hit Rock. After returning to his seat, Will, 53, shouted to Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your f—ing mouth!”
In his Best Actor acceptance speech, Will said in part, through tears, “In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. … I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.”
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“I know to do what we do you gotta be able to take abuse; you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you,” the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum continued. “In this business you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you, and you gotta smile and pretend like that’s okay.”
Will then addressed the incident directly, offering an apology to the Academy and his fellow actors for the incident — but failed to mention Rock.
Following the incident, the Academy also condemned Will’s actions in a statement: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”
Getty (2) Chris Rock (L); Jada Pinkett Smith
A source later told PEOPLE that the heated exchange between the Best Actor winner and Oscars presenter goes back several years, when Rock took aim at Jada during his hosting gig at the 2016 Academy Awards.
“When Chris hosted the Oscars in 2016, Jada was boycotting because of ‘Oscars So White.’ In his monologue, he made fun of her, saying she can’t boycott something she wasn’t invited to,” the insider explained. “Will was still mad about that.”
The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement obtained by Variety that Rock “has declined to file a police report” following the incident. “If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report,” the statement added.
Representatives for Rock have not responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
