Jada Pinkett Smith opens up on hair loss: 'Me and this alopecia are going to be friends'

The actress has spoken about her battle with the autoimmune disorder in the past

Will Smith confronted Chris Rock for making a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair loss during the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022. AFP

Attention was drawn to Jada Pinkett Smith's hair loss and alopecia at the 2022 Oscars, after her husband, Will Smith hit comedian Chris Rock for making a joke that likened her to GI Jane.

The actress, 50, has publicly spoken about her alopecia at length, most candidly by taking to Instagram to put a positive spin on her hair loss in December.

She captioned a video about dealing with the autoimmune disorder, "Me and this alopecia are going to be friends."

In the video, the Matrix Resurrections star pointed out bare patches on her scalp and said she was embracing them.

"Now at this point, I can only laugh. Y'all know I've been struggling with alopecia and just all of a sudden one day, look at this line right here. Look at that," she says in the video, as she points to a line on her head.

"It just showed up like that and this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So I thought I'd just share it so y'all are not asking any questions."

She then said that she was going to "put some rhinestones in there" and make herself a crown.

In the caption, she explained that she shared the alopecia update so that "nobody thinks she got brain surgery", suggesting that fans could mistake the hairless patch on her scalp for a scar.

Pinkett Smith, who is married to actor Smith, 53, also spoke about her hair loss in a 2018 conversation on her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk, when she said was using steroid injections.

"I’m getting my little steroid injections, and they seem to be helping, but not curing, but they seem to be helping, but I’m open to other ideas,” she said.

“I just want to say a thank you to everyone for all the outreach, from all the doctors and all the holistic practitioners, who have been reaching out to me for this head of mine, I appreciate it so much,” she said. “And I’m taking into a lot of consideration all the recommendations that are coming my way.”

A version of this article was first published on December 29, 2021