Laverne Cox defends bringing up Jada Pinkett Smith's 'entanglement' to her and Will Smith after critics call it 'tasteless': 'I thought that was funny'

• Laverne Cox addressed her remarks to Jada Pinkett Smith on the SAG Awards red carpet.
• Cox referenced Pinkett Smith's extramarital "entanglement" in front of her and Will Smith.

Laverne Cox said that she didn't mean to "mock" Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith by bringing up Pinkett Smith's extramarital "entanglement" on the SAG Awards red carpet.

At the awards ceremony on Sunday, Cox, who was a red carpet correspondent for E! News, told Pinkett Smith that fans couldn't wait for more "Red Table Talk," and "more entanglements," using the vernacular that Pinkett Smith had previously used to describe her 2015 extramarital relationship with August Alsina on her show.

Smith and Pinkett Smith laughed at the remark, and Pinkett Smith replied, "No more of those."

Cox addressed the remark in an Instagram livestream that's been preserved by celebrity news account The Shade Room as well as the radio show "The Breakfast Club."

Cox said she had heard that people thought her remarks were "tasteless" and "tacky," pushing her to hold herself "accountable" and "critically reflect" on the comment.

"I love 'Red Table Talk,' and I love what the Smiths have done with 'Red Table Talk,' and I think my error is that I had so many things I wanted to say to the Smiths, and we didn't have time," Cox said.

"I wanted to say so much to them, about not just the film, but about their just, œuvre, and what they've done with 'Red Table Talk' specifically," she continued. "And so when I said I'm looking forward to more 'Red Table Talk' and entanglements, I thought that was funny."

In a July 2020 episode of "Red Table Talk" that also included Will Smith, Pinkett Smith confirmed that she had a relationship with Alsina during a period when she and Smith were taking a break during their marriage. Smith referred to the relationship at the time as an "entanglement," specifying that Alsina was "not a homewrecker."

Cox said that she had not apologized to the Smiths, and that her addressing the remarks, which she said were a "love letter" to the couple, was not to be constituted as such. She said that if the Smiths need an apology from her, she would address it "privately."

"My intent was not to mock, or make fun of, but obviously I understand there's a difference between intent and impact," Cox said.