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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
Entertainment
Joe Erwin

Rep. Ayanna Pressley praises Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock, then deletes tweet

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley praised Will Smith for his Oscars attack on Chris Rock — then deleted her tweet shortly thereafter.

Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat, has alopecia, like Smith’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith. When Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith — remarking she could star in a sequel to “G.I. Jane,” in which Demi Moore played a character with a shaved head — Smith went onstage and hit Rock, then cursed him from the crowd.

That brought a short-lived tweet from Pressley, who revealed her alopecia and showed her bald head for the first time in 2020.

“#Alopecia nation stand up!” she tweeted. “Thank you #WillSmith Shout out to all the husbands who defend their wives living with alopecia in the face of daily ignorance & insults. #Oscars Women with baldies are for real men only only. Boys need not apply.”

Pressley deleted the tweet shortly thereafter, but it was captured in screenshots by people replying to it.

Earlier this month, Pressley gave an impassioned speech as the House of Representatives passed the Crown Act, prohibiting discrimination based on her, which often targets African-Americans.

Shortly after he hit Rock, Smith won best actor for his performance in “King Richard.”

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