Before the Oscars, Jada Pinkett Smith said she “adored” her shaved head

Jada Pinkett Smith has been quiet since husband Will Smith slapped Chris Rock for a joke about his shaved head at the Oscars. She only posted a calming message on Instagram. However, the actress has never hidden her alopecia before. It was in 2018 that the star went public with her hair falling out in handfuls. A situation experienced by many women, and that is why she wanted to address the subject, which affects the Afro community all the more.

Hair is a particularly sensitive subject for women with curly to frizzy lengths, in a world where straight hair is synonymous with beauty. Solange Knowles and Lupita Nyong’o also spoke at length about the importance of hair for black women – and also put publications that retouch their hairstyles in their place.

At the end of last year, Jada Pinkett Smith announced that she wanted to “become friends with my alopecia.” And just a week before this masterful slap, Jada Pinkett Smith posted a video on her social networks, explaining her hair journey and her regained pride.

“My shaved head (…) I love it”

In this post, titled “Be proud of your crown”, she details how she had to “Europeanize” her hair in order to correspond to the dictates of Hollywood. “Being a black woman and managing her hair in Hollywood, in my day, meant making your hair look as European as possible. It was a challenge, because I liked my curly, natural hair. But no one wanted that, so I always had to wear my hair in a way that didn’t feel natural to me because I was trying to play the game,” he can be heard saying as footage scrolls by. archives of her since the 1990s.

Thirty years later, and four years after revealing her alopecia, Jada Pinkett Smith claims to have found “the courage to say no” to diktats, which is why she feels “such freedom today”. “I don’t care what people think of my shaved head. And do you know why ? I love it,” she concludes.

The actress had also proven it by wearing a head jewel created for her, set with diamonds, at the Critics Choice Awards, two weeks ago. Obviously, at the Oscars, it was different.