Jada Pinkett Smith Should Say 'Thanks God' for Her Alopecia: Bill Maher

Television host and political comedian Bill Maher on Friday downplayed Jada Pinkett Smith's medical condition saying that she should consider herself "lucky" that she only has alopecia.

"If you are so lucky in life as to have that be your medical problem, just say 'thanks God,'" Maher said during his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher. "It's not life threatening. It's part of...aging."

Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. However, its impact differs from one individual to the other. Some could lose some parts of their hair while others could lose more. Some individuals also could find their hair growing back or lost permanently, according to WebMD.

"Aging is, trust me I know, it's the degradation of the flesh. It happens to all of us," the comedian added. "Put on a f****** wig like everybody else at the Oscars if it bothers you so much. As we age, we look worse and we do things to best deal with it."

His comments come after almost a week since the 94th Academy Awards where comedian Chris Rock made a joke about Pinkett's haircut, which is due to her medical condition.

"It's not exactly the worst insult I've ever heard," Maher said about Rock's joke. "I mean, alopecia it's not leukemia...when your hair falls out."

Rock's joke in which he said, "Jada, love you, G.I. Jane 2—can't wait to see it," provoked her husband actor Will Smith to get onto the stage and slap him across the face. After returning to his seat, Smith yelled at Rock to keep his "wife's name out your f****** mouth."

Pinkett in recent years has been open about her medical condition that causes her hair to fall out. In 2018, she said during an episode of the talk show Red Table Talk that she began losing "handfuls of hair" in the shower.

"It was one of those times in my life where I was literally shaking with fear," she said, adding that she consulted with doctors to find out why she was losing her hair, but didn't receive an answer.

Last year, Pinkett shared a photo of her shaved head on Instagram expressing that she embraces it. "My 50s are 'bout to be divinely lit with this shed," she wrote in the photo's caption.

Some months later, she spoke about her medical disorder with her followers on Instagram.

"Now at this point I can only laugh. Y'all know I've been struggling with alopecia," she said in a video and wrote in a caption: "Me and this alopecia are going to be friends... period!"

Her husband later made a public apology for smacking Rock at the Oscars and ultimately resigned from the Academy.

"The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris [Rock], his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home," he said in a statement on Friday. "I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken."

Newsweek contacted Will Smith's publicist and will update the story once a response is received.