Comedian Bill Maher has come under fire for minimizing Jada Pinkett Smith’s autoimmune disorder and telling her to “put on a wig” in comments he made on April 1.
Per People, Maher took aim at Pinkett Smith’s health status in the opening monologue of his talk show Real Time on HBO. The comedian told his audience that there are “worse things than alopecia” and argued that it was “not leukemia, okay?”
Later in the show Maher brought up Pinkett Smith once again with his guests, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and legal analyst Laura Coates. He told them that he initially took issue with Chris Rock’s G.I. Jane joke because he thought that alopecia was a more severe health condition.
The talk show host said he then revised his opinion when he learned that alopecia was “not life-threatening.” The comedian claimed to have Googled information about the disorder and went on to say that Pinkett Smith should “thank God” that her health was not compromised by what he deems a more serious diagnosis.
Maher then ridiculed Pinkett Smith, suggesting that she was being overly sensitive about having alopecia.
“Aging is, trust me I know, it’s the degradation of the flesh. It happens to all of us. And you know, just put on a f—ing wig like everybody else at the Oscars if it bothers you so much.”
Maher inserted himself into the controversy about the altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars after Rock teased Pinkett Smith about her shaved head with the joke, “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.” Her husband responded by walking on stage and slapping Rock’s face in what is probably the most scandalous Academy Awards moment to date.
Maher’s comments about Pinkett Smith were slammed on social media as hateful, ableist, sexist, and racist.
Another user criticized Maher’s ignorance about alopecia.
Some felt that Maher was wearing his biases on his sleeve, with one user tweeting:
Another user agreed, tweeting that it was unfair that Maher and Tony Rock blamed Jada for the conflict between her husband and Chris Rock.
Others felt that Pinkett Smith had unfairly become a punching bag of sorts following the incident.
Still more echoed Maher’s cherchez la femme sentiments, with some going as far as to accuse Pinkett Smith ⏤ who has yet to comment on the incident ⏤ of having a “victim mentality.”
The saga of the 2022 Oscars continues as Smith’s fate teeter-totters in the wake of his shocking act of violence against Rock.