Oscars Fight Highlights for Many the Toll Alopecia May Carry

Oscars Fight Highlights for Many the Toll Alopecia May Carry

Kelly Wairimu Davis, MS

March 29, 2022

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Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony is a buzzing topic of conversation.

Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an Oscar – and the highly coveted best supporting actor award, at that.

But it was what happened afterward that arguably stole the show.

Viewers and audience members alike watched in awe as actor Will Smith marched on stage and struck award presenter and comedian Chris Rock in the face after he directed a joke at Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, for her shaved head.

Pinkett Smith has publicly shared her struggles with alopecia areata, which is a disorder that causes your immune system to attack your hair follicles. For many, it also can carry stigma and can lead to feelings of depression or mental illness.

The result is hair loss, which can vary from quarter-size patches to losing all the hair on your head or even your entire body.

About 700,000 people in the U.S. have alopecia areata, according to a 2020 study. Of them, slightly more than half are women, and more than 77% are white.

Shortly after the awards show, the Los Angeles Police Department released a statement saying it was aware of the incident and Rock had not pressed charges against Smith.

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