“Will Smith slapping Chris Rock saved our marriage”– Jada Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith has claimed that her marriage to Will Smith was “saved” by the moment her husband slapped comedian Chris Rock around the face at the Oscars.

In a new interview, with the Daily Mail’s YOU Magazine, Pinkett Smith called it a ‘holy slap’, and revealed that the moment put a reset on their relationship.

“I nearly didn’t even attend the Oscars that year, but I’m glad I did,” Jada said. “I call it the ‘holy slap’ now because so many positive things came after it.”

“That moment of the slap hitting the fan is when you see where you really are,” said Jada. “After all those years trying to figure out if I would leave Will’s side, it took that slap for me to see I will never leave him.”

She added: “Who knows where our relationship would be if that hadn’t happened?”

During the 94th Academy Awards on 27 March 2022, Rock had been announcing the nominees for Best Documentary Feature when he began a short monologue. It was then that the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, comparing her to Demi Moore in the 1997 film, GI Jane.

Smith gave off a wry smile, Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes and glared at Rock. Next, Smith stood up, stormed on stage, yelled “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth,” and slapped Rock around the face.

The controversial moment resulted in Smith being banned from Academy events for 10 years and saw the Oscars put in place new crisis measures for this year’s ceremony.

This recent interview comes after the Set it Off actor surprised fans in October when she revealed that she and Will had been separated for six years at the time of the 2022 Academy Awards.

Despite living separately since 2016, the pair, who have been married since 1997, have continued to support each other in public and have spoken of their mutual ongoing appreciation. But despite several admissions about being separated, Jada has since said that they will be staying together “forever”