Jada Pinkett Smith reacts to Will Smith’s Oscar slap

What was safely considered the most shocking event of the Academy Awards was when Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the previous year’s ceremony. Jada Pinkett Smith’s first reaction was: it must be a skit.

In a chat with PEOPLE, the 52-year-old touched upon the biggest controversy of the award show after her husband slapped the comedian onstage for making a joke at her expense.

“I thought, ‘This is a skit,'” she continued. “I was like, ‘There’s no way that Will hit him.’ It wasn’t until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realized it wasn’t a skit.”

Following the shocking incident, the Girls Trip star shared her first conversation with her better-half, asking, “Are you okay?”

In response to the Oscar winner’s slap, the Academy slapped back with a ten year ban on him.

Reflecting on his actions, Will multiple times offered an apology, including admitting to simply “lost it” while appearing on The Daily Show.

Meanwhile, Chris remained mum on the matter until the rollout of his Netflix special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage last March, where he broke the silence, saying that he is “not a victim, baby; you’ll never see me on Oprah or Gayle, crying. You will never see it. Never gonna happen.”