Vivica A. Fox was overcome by emotions recently while sharing her thoughts on Jada Pinkett Smith’s comments regarding her husband, Will Smith. During the 94th-annual Academy Awards, the latter walked onstage while Chris Rock was presenting and slapped the veteran comedian after he made a joke about his wife’s shaved head.
During the Thursday, June 2 episode of “The Wendy Williams Show,” that Fox co-hosted, Fox had some choice words for the “Red Table Talk” host, claiming that she took “no accountability” for her role in the highly publicized incident.
“This is going to be difficult for me. These are my peers. I’ve done a movie with both of them: ‘Set It Off’ with Jada and ‘Independence Day’ with Will Smith, which absolutely changed my life. When I saw this video last night, it made me cry; I’ll be very honest with you guys,” the 57-year-old actress shared as she grew emotional.
“I really felt to be a partner to Will Smith, whose career basically took a crumble that night. We were all rooting for Will Smith that night — Oscar night — we wanted him to win. Will Smith that night, as far as I was concerned, was going to be crowned this generation’s Sidney Poitier, which is a huge honor,” she continued.
The “Soul Food” star said she “felt to be a good partner, there was no accountability.” She added, “Will Smith was defending her honor, that was the reason he walked on stage and slapped because he felt like his wife had been offended. So for me to see no accountability as a partner. Also, let’s not forget that Chris Rock was assaulted. We cannot forget that. For basically telling a joke that I really felt wasn’t that bad.”
The actress later stressed the significance of that night, in particular, stating, “Let’s not forget the show was executive produced by Will Packer, an African-American man. This night was a night of African-American and diversity for brown and Black people, that now will forever be scarred.”
During the Wednesday, June 1 airing of “RTT,” Pinkett Smith indirectly addressed the controversy, sharing that “My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile.”
She continued, “With the state of the world today, we need ’em both, and we all actually need one another more than ever. 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.”
