Jada Pinkett-Smith Addresses The Slap for the First Time on Red Table Talk... By Kicking the Can Down the Road

Entertainment By TooFab Staff |
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The first guests were Janelle Monáe, and an elephant who was also in the room.

Jada Pinkett-Smith has addressed "The Slap" for the first time — by not addressing it.

The eagerly awaited first episode of Red Table Talk finally arrived on Wednesday morning, as fans tuned in with bated breath to see what she was going to say about her husband's infamous attack on Chris Rock at last month's Oscars.

But she didn't say anything.

Instead, the fifth season premiere episode opened on a silent black screen, with a note signed by Jada instead:

"Considering all that has happened in the last few weeks, the Smith family has been focusing on deep healing," it read.

"Some of the discoveries around our healing will be shared at the table when the time calls."

"Until then…the table will continue offering itself to powerful, inspiring and healing testimonies like that of our incredible impressive first guest."

That first guest was Janelle Monáe; and with her arrival at the RTT, no more was said about the Academy Awards, Will Smith, Chris Rock, or any of the drama at all.

It wasn't immediately clear if the episode was filmed before or after the March 27 slap; according to Variety, at least some of the season was filmed before the ceremony took place.

The episode was originally meant to air at 9 AM, but was shifted to noon at the last minute; showrunners would not confirm to the outlet if the change was due to adding the message.

The trailer, released the day before, had not hinted at any mention of the Smith-Rock drama either:

While fans may be disappointed they didn't get the tea in episode one, they can take solace in the fact Jada promised it would be addressed at the Red Table... at some stage.