Vivica A. Fox thinks Jada Pinkett Smith could have done better addressing the Will Smith Oscars slap.
A day after Jada broke her silence on the topic, Fox criticized her former co-star for taking “no accountability” and called Jada’s remarks “self-righteous” on Thursday’s Wendy Williams Show.
“This is going to be difficult for me,” began Fox, who fought back tears. “These are my peers. I’ve done a movie with both of them,” referring to Set It Off with Jada and Independence Day with Will — the latter of which she said “absolutely changed my life.”
However, “when I saw this video” of Jada addressing the topic on Wednesday’s Red Table Talk, “it made me cry, I’ll be very honest with you guys.”
“We were all rooting for Will Smith that night, Oscar night,” she continued. “We wanted him to win. [He] was going to be crowned this generation’s Sidney Poitier, which is a huge honor.”
Fox felt that Jada accepted no responsibility for the drama, which stemmed from presenter Chris Rock making a G.I. Jane joke about her bald ahead, reportedly unaware she had alopecia. Will stormed the stage, slapped the comedian, then continued to curse him out from his seat. Meanwhile, Jada seemed to laugh at her seat.
“Will Smith was defending her honor, that’s the reason he walked on stage and slapped — because he felt like his wife had been offended,” Fox continued, “So for me to see no accountability as a partner…”
She continued, “Also, let’s not forget, Chris Rock was assaulted. We cannot forget that for basically telling a joke that I really felt wasn’t that bad.”
Not to mention, she continued, that the show was executive-produced by an all Black team headed by Will Packer.
“This night was a night of African American and diversity for brown and Black people that now will forever be scarred,” she said.
Fox said she has “love for the Smiths. I know their children. I’ve watched them grow up.” She just thinks Jada could have done better.
“I just wish we could have just a little more accountability and for it to not seem so self-righteous on Jada’s part,” she said.
Jada’s comments on RTT came more than two months after the slap seen around the world, which resulted in Will, who went on to win the Best Actor award, being banned from the Oscars for 10 years. He also resigned from the Academy.
“About Oscar night,” Jada said. “My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile. Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years — and that’s [to] keep figuring out this thing called life together. Thank you for listening.”
That episode of RTT was about alopecia, which Will, in his public apology, said was behind him hitting Rock. Will said he “reacted emotionally” because the “joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear.”
