Jada Pinkett Smith cries with mom of girl with alopecia who died by suicide

nypost.com:

alopecia. The “Gotham” actress, 50, recently sat down with Niki Ball, the mother of a 12-year-old girl, Rio, who tragically cut her young life short after being bullied for her alopecia.

The severe, escalating abuse the girl suffered reportedly included getting “smacked” on the head by other students, being called names like “naked mole rat” and even having her wig “ripped off her head.” Rio committed suicide on March 14, 2022.In a clip from an upcoming, tear-filled episode of Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch show “Red Table Talk,” obtained by People, Ball explained that Rio developed alopecia during the coronavirus pandemic and her hair started falling out “by the handful.” It began with a bald spot on her scalp, and shortly after Rio was diagnosed with alopecia areata.The condition is categorized as an autoimmune disorder that causes one’s hair to come out in clumps.

Pinkett Smith has suffered from the illness since 2018.Interest in the “Scream 2” star’s hair condition skyrocketed after Pinkett Smith’s shaved head was teased by comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars on March 28.Rock, 57, suggested at the time that the Baltimore native looked like “GI Jane” just before her husband Will Smith slapped him onstage.

Ball noted that with Rio’s hair loss, “She was so strong. She still rocked it even when it was falling out, and she just had these big bald patches. [She] tried the creams.