Rock's first awkward interaction with the Smiths took place when he hosted the 2016 Oscars. During his opening monologue, the comedian mentioned Jada Pinkett Smith's name among the group of celebrities boycotting the award ceremony that year for its lack of diversity in nominations. "Jada says she's not coming. Protesting. I'm like, 'Ain't she on a TV show?'" said Rock. "Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties. I wasn't invited!"
Pinkett Smithresponded to Rock's remarks a week later when photographers spotted her walking through LAX, according to Entertainment Tonight. She told them, "Hey, look it comes with the territory, we gotta keep it moving. We got a lot of stuff we gotta handle, a lot of stuff going on in our world right now. We gotta keep it moving."
