The History Between Chris Rock, Will Smith And Jada Pinkett Smith

The trio had previously been friends

Updated on29th March 2022 at 12.30am

We still can't quite digest the big showbiz news of the day: Will Smith hitting Chris Rock during the Oscars, over a joke the comedian made about Will's wife,Jada Pinkett Smithfor Best Documentary when he joked that Jada was starring in 'G.I. Jane 2' in reference to her shaved head. (For context, last year, Jada publicly shared that she suffered from alopecia, an auto-immune disorder that causes hair loss - and the 1997 film G.I. Jane starred Demi Moore with a buzzcut.)

While the moment might have been shocking, it's even more surprising because Chris and Will used to be friends. In fact, in 1995, Chris and his sister Jasmine had cameo appearances in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alongside Smith. After this, the pair remained friends - and even hung out together with Jada, after Will and Jada tied the knot in 1997. Jada and Chris have also been co-stars, as the pair starred in the animated trilogy Madagascar, with Jada as Gloria the hippo and Chris as Marty the zebra.

But things really soured at the 2016 Oscars, where Chris singled out Jada again, making a joke at Pinkett Smith's decision not to attend the event over the lack of Black nominees. 'But what happened this year? People went mad,' Rock said in his opening monologue. 'Spike Lee went mad... Jada Pinkett Smith went mad. Will Smith went mad. Everyone went mad. Jada said she's not coming, protesting. Isn't she on a TV show? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties — I wasn't invited.'

In 2018, it was also reported that Rock left a comment on a birthday Instagram post Will dedicated to his ex-wife Sheree Zampino, the mother of his son Trey, which said '#BestBabyMamaEver' and 'I Love You Ree-Ree' in the caption. 'Wow. You have a very understanding wife,' Chris wrote, according to E! Online, to which Sheree replied: 'Don't hate'.