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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Saman Javed

GI Jane hairstylist says Chris Rock’s joke did not warrant Jada Pinkett Smith’s eye roll

Getty

The hairstylist behind Demi Moore’s buzzcut in GI Jane has said he doesn’t understand Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s response to Chris Rock’s joke at the Oscars.

Will Smith was embroiled in controversy on Sunday after he stormed the stage of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles during Rock’s monologue and slapped him across the face.

The altercation took place after Rock, who was presenting an award, made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. “Jada, I love you, ‘GI Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it,” he said.

Pinkett Smith looked visibly upset and rolled her eyes at the quip. The Red Table Talk host has been vocal about her struggles with alopecia – an inflammatory condition that causes excessive hair loss.

Enzo Angileri, who styled Moore’s hair for the 1997 war film, told Page Six he thought the joke was “cute” and “benevolent”.

The stylist said he didn’t know Pinkett Smith suffered from alopecia prior to Sunday evening, but her reaction still did not make sense to him.

“I thought she looked amazing, so regal,” he said. “I thought it was a beauty choice...I have never seen her look more beautiful.”

“It’s nothing to cause such a rolling of the eyes in my opinion, that stimulated her husband to act that way,” he adds.

Smith, who has been widely criticised for the smack, has since issued an apology to the Academy and Rock.

“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” he said in a post to Instagram on Monday.

“Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.

“There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”

Angileri said he believes Smith’s response is “completely unacceptable.”

“Don’t we try to teach our kids not to raise their hands?” he said.

Pinkett Smith broke her silence following the controversy with an Instagram post on Tuesday, which simply read: “This is a season for healing and I’m here for it.”

She did not add a caption and has limited comments under the post.

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