It was an historic night at the 2022 Oscar awards following the altercation between comedian Chris Rock and Will Smith after a jab went wrong from the Oscar host, Rock.
Just before announcing the winners for the night’s big categories, Rock threw a jab at Jada’s chronic battle with Alopecia, saying ” Jada, I love ya, ‘G.I. Jane 2′ can’t wait to see it’‘ – Rock said. A jab that prompted a slap from Will Smith who had overly laughed at the joke.
Obviously the joke didn’t settle well with Will or either resonated a deep cut of pain following Jada’s reaction. The obviously infuriated Smith after slapping Rock on stage and returning to his seat was seen yelling in the crowd – ”keep my wife’s name out of your f***king mouth”.
This is not the first time Chris Rock is throwing a jab at Jada. In 2016 while hosting the Oscars, Rock had thrown a subtle shade at Jada.
The jab – G.I Jane 2 tells of Demi Moore feature in a 1997 movie, GI Jane as Jordan O’Neil, where she played the character of the first woman to outsmart her male counterparts in a Navy Seal Training. Due to the complexity and ruggedness of the training, O’Neil in a bid to stamp her mark and secure her position as a Navy Seal had to shave her head; a decision that made her hide her femininity.
Rock taking a jab from the character at Jada didn’t sit well even when Jada has been very vocal about her journey with Alopecia. In 2018, the 50 years old Baltimore born and actress had started losing her hair; a disclosure she made on one of her episodes on Facebook Watch series – Red Table Talk.
Jada who has been emotional about losing her hair had said the experience was terrifying for her. “I’ll tell you it was terrifying when it first started. “I was in the shower one day and then just handfuls of hair, just in my hands, and I was like, ‘Oh my God am I going bald?’
“It was one of those times in my life when I was literally shaking with fear” she said.
Jada who also said she ‘felt like a queen with her hair wrapped, reminisced on moment people inquired if she had a weave because her hair used to be so thick. “I’ve gotten every kind of test. They don’t know why. People say stress. You do have alopecia.”
“I watch the higher power take things every day and, by golly, if the higher power wants to take your hair. That’s it? God, do you want my hair?”
When I looked at it from that perspective, it really did settle me.’
In July 2021, Jada Pinkett debuted her newly accepted hairstyle after being inspired by her daughter Willow who shaved her hair in solidarity of Jada’s fight with Alopecia.
Jada had revealed on her Instagram – “Willow made me do it because it was time to let go BUT … my 50’s are bout to be Divinely lit with this shed.”
Also, she later revealed she had found a treatment to slow the loss of hair but still open to new ‘other ideas’. – ”I’m getting my little steroid injections, and they seem to be helping, but not curing, but they seem to be helping, but I’m open to other ideas. I want to say a thank you to everyone for all the outreach, from the doctors and all the holistic practitioners who have been reaching out to me for this head of mine, I appreciate it so much. And I’m taking into a lot of consideration all the recommendation that are coming my way.” She revealed.
While speaking with Tiffany and Yvonne Orji in September last year, the Matrix reloaded actress had said shaving her hair had given her a sense of freedom that made her more connected to the great divine in a special way. “It was a huge relief. It was that moment, I was like, I’m done. I’m done with the worry, I’m done with the care. I’m done.” she said.
Again in a video in December 2021, where she spoke about alopecia, Jada had showed off her shaved hair and said, ” 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!”
Continuing, “now at this point, I can only laugh. Trying to live with alopecia and just all of a sudden one day, look at this line right here – pointing to a line on her scalp, so it just showed up like that, so this is gonna be a little more difficult for me to hide, so I thought I’d share it so you all are not asking any questions.”
WHAT IS ALOPECIA?
According to medicalnewstoday.com, Alopecia areata is a common autoimmune disorder that often results in unpredictable hair loss. This disease which predominantly is a common condition among many, and individuals causes victim’s hair to fall out in small patches and in some cases it is extreme and rapid hair loss in patches. This complete hair loss ranges from the scalp to throughout the body in extreme cases.
Also, according to the Australia Alopecia Areata Foundation, 2% of Australians suffer this condition. In the United States of America, roughly 6.8million people gets affected with the condition.
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Although there is no absolute cure for Alopecia Areata, experts it can affect people from different any gender, age but usually happens before the age of 30.
Experts also say one in five persons suffering from the disease contacted from disease from bloodline especially if a family member had suffered it. The condition develops rapidly in an individual and it is only a matter of a few days before the individual starts to see sudden hair fall in patches.
There have been debates about Alopecia Areata being caused by stress, but there’s almost no scientific evidence to support this. In some rare cases where people have only a few patches of hair loss, people even experience a sudden hair growth and fully recover from the condition.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES?
Alopecia Areata is caused when white blood cells begin to attack the cells in the hair follicles, causing them to shrink and dramatically slow down hair production. While scientists are uncertain why this happens, research says it’s a generic condition that occurs in a person who had a family member with the disease.
IS THERE A TREATMENT FOR ALOPECIA AREATA?
Talking about treatment, expert says there is no cure for Alopecia Areata but doctors suggest a few alternative solutions for hair re-growth. Multiple reports state that the most commonly suggested treatment for the condition is the usage of corticosteroids, which is an anti-inflammatory drug that is known to suppress the affected individual’s immune system. Even though doctors prescribe medications for hair re-growth, the individual will continue to see random patches of hair loss.
Also, doctors say Alopecia Areata is not a contagious disease that affect the physical health of a person affects great part of the patient’s mental health and esteem. Adding that people suffering from Alopecia areata can go bald with time due to continuous loss of hair patches.
Meanwhile, back at the Oscars night an emotional Will Smith while making a speech after winning his ever Academy award as Best Actor for his role in King Richard – apologized to the academy for his behaviour at the event.
He said, “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family…In this business you’ve got to have people disrespecting you and you have to smile and pretend that that’s ok,” he said crying.
“I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees…Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said but love makes you do crazy things.”
He finished off, “I hope the Academy invites me back.” The crowd laughed carefully.
