Jada Pinkett Smith found her struggle with hair loss at the center of an unexpected controversy at the Oscars Sunday night when her husband Will Smith attacked comedian Chris Rock in response to a joke he made about his shaved head .
But while social media users were divided over the "King Richard" star's angry reaction, there was widespread support online for Pinkett Smith, who previously opened up about her experiences with the alopecia condition.
One user wrote, "Jada is a current inspiration for many people who live with the same or similar subcategory of her condition." Writer Roxanne Gay meanwhile said that although she didn't think Pinkett Smith's jokes about alopecia justified violence, she understood how it "could push someone over the edge."
Revealing her diagnosis in 2018, Pinkett Smith spoke publicly about the condition, which has no known cure. In an episode of her chat show, Red Table Talk, she recalled the "terrible" moment she first noticed she was losing "a handful of hairs" in the shower.
"It was one of those times in my life where I was literally trembling with fear," she said. "So I got my hair cut and kept cutting it."
In recent years, the actress has often worn short, cut hair, or attended events with a turban and head wrap. In July last year she revealed her fully shaved head, posting a picture of herself with her daughter Willow on Instagram.
"Willow told me to do this because it was time to leave," she wrote in the accompanying caption. "But... my 50s are meant to be divinely illuminated with this shade (shaved head)."
Posting an update on Instagram last December about her "struggle" with the condition, Pinkett Smith said she was coming to terms with the disorder and that "me and this separation are going to be friends... period! "
"Mom has to get it up to the scalp so no one thinks she's had brain surgery or something," she wrote in the post, with the video showing followers a new area of hair loss that seems to be "more". Was about to It's hard to hide." Then she added that she was going to use "some rhinestones" to "make me a little crowned"
Pinkett Smith has since appeared in public with her new look at various award ceremonies and premieres. At the Critics' Choice Awards earlier this month, she accessorised with a diamond-encrusted headpiece.
According to Harvard Medical School, about a third of women will experience some form of hair loss in their lives. And a peer-reviewed study published in 2018 found that black and Hispanic women in the US are "significantly more" likely to develop alopecia areata -- the medical term for the autoimmune disorder Pinkett Smith -- than white women in their lifetime.
Alopecia advocates, and people with the condition, tweeted on social media after the incident, along with an awareness group, The Bald Girls Do Lunch: "It's never okay to joke about @jadapsmith or any woman with #alopecia #alopciaareata. Period."
"It took a lot of courage for Jada to come out in public, which is also disorder," wrote another Twitter user, who added: "Shame on Chris Rock.
Former NBA star and self-described "alopecia ambassador" Charlie Villanueva meanwhile used the controversy to post a message of support for people with the disorder: "Remember, you have alopecia, you don't have alopecia."