Pinkett Smith’s husband, Will Smith, took the stage at the Academy Awards in March and slapped presenter Chris Rock after he joked about Pinkett Smith’s cropped haircut.
The actress suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss.
On her Facebook watch show, Pinkett Smith hosted the mother of 12-year-old Rio Allred, who committed suicide after being bullied for having alopecia.
“This is a really important ‘Red Table Talk’ on alopecia. Considering what I went through and what happened at the Oscars, thousands have reached out to me with their stories,” Pinkett Smith said during the show. “I’m taking this moment to give our alopecia family the opportunity to talk about what it’s like to have this condition and educate people about what alopecia actually is.”
She then addressed the incident between her husband and Rock.
“Well, on Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, speak out, and reconcile. The state of the world today, we need them both, and we all actually need one more than ever,” she said. “Until then, Will and I will continue to do what we’ve been doing for the last 28 years, and that is , keep figuring out what’s called life. Thanks for listening.”
It was Pinkett Smith’s first public statement about what happened at the Oscars. In April, a cover card at the beginning of her show read: “In light of what has happened over the past few weeks, the Smith family has focused on deep healing. Some of the discoveries surrounding our healing will be shared around the table when the time calls. Until then, the table will continue to offer powerful, inspiring and healing testimonies like that of our incredibly impressive first guest.”
Her husband publicly apologized to Rock and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in a statement following the incident. The Academy banned Smith from attending the Oscars for a decade as punishment.