Jada Pinkett Smith was open about her alopecia journey long before Chris Rock brought up her bald head at the 2022 Oscars.
In the most dramatic moment of the awards show on Sunday, March 27, the comedian made a crack that Pinkett Smith was ready to star in “G.I. Jane 2” thanks to her closed-shaved look.
Her husband, Will Smith, then stormed the stage, smacked Rock, and said, “Leave my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth.”
Pinkett Smith, 50, has spoken candidly about her hair loss “struggle” since 2018, when she revealed her diagnosis with the autoimmune disorder alopecia on her Facebook Watch show, “Red Table Talk.”
“I’ve been having issues with hair loss,” she said at the time. “It was terrifying when it first started. I was in the shower one day and had just handfuls of hair in my hands and I was just like, ‘Oh my God, am I going bald?'”
Added the actress, “It was one of those times in my life where I was literally shaking in fear.”
In a since-deleted Instagram video from the same year, she shared that she was experimenting with “little steroid injections” to slow her hair loss.
“They seem to be helping, but not curing, but they seem to be helping, but I’m open to other ideas,” she told fans at the time.
In July 2021, she debuted a fresh buzzcut, inspired by her daughter.
“Willow made me do it because it was time to let go,” she wrote on Instagram of the ‘do.
And just a few months later, she shared another update on her hair loss, pointing out a completely bald patch on the top of her head.
“Now at this point I can only laugh,” she began. “Y’all know I’ve been struggling with alopecia. Look at this line right here … it just showed up like that. And this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide, so I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking any questions.”
Pinkett Smith captioned the clip, “Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something … Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!”
“The Matrix: Resurrections” actress also joked that she’d put rhinestones on her head and make herself a “little crown” — and followed through on the idea in a big way at the 2022 Critics Choice Awards, wearing a custom Jacquie Aiche headpiece adorned with 53 diamonds and worth a whopping $46,250.
Pinkett Smith’s Oscars moment didn’t go unnoticed by her fellow alopecia sufferers.
“I think it’s inappropriate to make any joke about someone with alopecia as it’s a condition that highly impacts mental health for that individual and isn’t a laughing matter,” said “Ex on the Beach” contestant ZaraLena Jackson, who has the same illness.
“To be clear, I don’t condone violence, but [Will] defending Jada showed strength in my eyes and was very comforting to see a man stand by his woman when she has alopecia.”