Let’s be real, people are talking more about Will Smith’s Oscars slap than the awards themselves. While there has been widespread disapproval of Will Smith’s actions, many people are pinning the slap on Jada Pinkett Smith, labeling the whole event as a result of her believed toxic and manipulative personality. Some of this commentary originates from her admitted cheating scandal (aka “entanglement”) with August Alsina during her marriage to Will– it also stems from the fact that Will originally laughed at the now infamous “G.I. Jane” joke, seemingly becoming angry only after turning to an unamused Jada.
To me, these comments blaming Jada are borderline sexist. Don’t get me wrong– her cheating scandal and the nature of her and Will’s relationship is definitely a bit strange. But cheating scandals involving the famous men of Hollywood being romantically involved with much younger women are swept under the rug all the time without them being villainized. Will’s slap at The Oscars was his move and his move only. Insinuating that his wife was actually the puppeteer behind the whole thing instead of just admitting that he did something wrong seems completely skewed– if it had been Jada that had slapped Chris Rock, there probably would not have been much conversation blaming Will, and that tells you all you need to know.
I am not in any way Jada’s biggest fan but let’s stop blaming women for things that they have nothing to do with.