After her husband Will Smith seemed to strike comedian Chris Rock in response to a joke he made about her shaved head, Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss became the subject of an unanticipated controversy at the Oscars on Sunday night. Jada Pinkett Smith has always been vocal about her struggles with alopecia.
While social media fans were split on the “King Richard” star’s enraged response, Pinkett Smith, who has previously spoken out about her difficulties with alopecia, received overwhelming support.
Pinkett Smith revealed her illness in 2018 and has since spoken out about the disease, which has no known cure. She remembered the “terrifying” moment. Mrs. Smith first noticed she was losing “handfuls of hair” in the shower in an episode of her talk program, Red Table Talk.
She described it as “one of those occasions in my life when I was genuinely shaking with panic”. “That’s why I started cutting my hair and kept cutting it.”
In recent years, the actress has frequently worn short, cropped hair or turbans and headwraps to function. She unveiled her entirely shorn head in July of last year. She uploaded a photo of herself with her daughter, Willow, on Instagram.
Pinkett Smith has worn her new look to many award shows and premieres since then. She wore a diamond-encrusted headgear to the Critics’ Choice Awards earlier this month.
Alopecia Is Not A Joke
According to Harvard Medical School, over a third of women will experience hair loss at some point in their life. In addition, according to a peer-reviewed study released in 2018, Black and Hispanic women in the United States had a “far greater” likelihood of acquiring alopecia areata. It is the medical term for the autoimmune illness Pinkett Smith suffers, in their lifetime than white women.
Meanwhile, Charlie Villanueva, a former NBA player, and self-described “alopecia ambassador,” took to social media to express his support for those suffering from the disorder. He says, “Remember you have alopecia, alopecia doesn’t have you.”