Ricky Gervais has said he would not have joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair if he were hosting the Oscars in 2022, but he would have poked fun at her relationship instead.
After Will slapped Chris Rock on stage for making a joke about G.I Jane in reference to Jada’s buzzcut, Gervais, who has hosted the Golden Globes multiple times but never the Oscars, spoke out. Will Smith has since apologized.
Jada, 50, is suffering from alopecia, which might go some way to explaining Will Smiths’ extreme reaction. Apparently, Chris Rock was unaware of her condition at the time of his joke.
At a comedy show in Highgate, north London, Ricky reportedly said:
‘I’ll get it out of the way. I have not got any Will Smith material. I trended when that happened and I was not even there.
‘What has it got to do with me? People were going “What would have happened if Ricky Gervais had been doing it [hosting the Oscars]?” he added, according to The Mirror.
‘Well, nothing as I would not have made a joke about his wife’s hair. I would have made a joke about her boyfriend.’
Jada admitted in July 2020 that she had an ‘entanglement’ with August Alsina while she and Will were still married – but she told reporters that the two had been separated at the time.
‘We were over,’ she said at the time. ‘From there, as time went on, I got into a different kind of entanglement with August.’
Continuing, Jada clarified August’s claim that Will had given the relationship his permission: “I want to clarify what was swirling in the press about you giving permission, which is me alone who can give permission in that situation.”
‘But what August was trying to communicate – because I could actually see how he would perceive it as permission because we were separated amicably – I think he also wanted to make it clear that he’s not a homewrecker, which he’s not.’
The now-infamous clash between Will Smith and Chris Rock took place at the 2022 Academy Awards, with the King Richard actor storming the stage and slapping the comedian before swearing at him from his chair.
After previously announcing that he would never host the Oscars, Ricky has been outspoken this year, including a retweet of a joke from The Office about alopecia.
“And she's got alopecia. So… not a happy homelife." pic.twitter.com/b1NYWWIncX
— David Brent Music (@DavidBrentMovie) March 28, 2022
