Cleveland Heights hairstylist talks about Alopecia after drama at the Oscars

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Will Smith shook things up at the 2022 Oscars when he slapped Chris Rock.

The altercation stemmed from Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair as she sports a shaved head.

The thing is Smith has alopecia and it’s not a joking matter.

“Alopecia is an autoimmune disease deficiency disorder... within the body and hair and it attacks the body and there’s no real reason why,” said Maria-Lynn Ogletree, owner, of Natural Roots Styling Studio.

Ogletree is based out of Cleveland Heights.

Ogletree has been a hairstylist for 30 years and she’s dealt with many clients who suffer from Alopecia.

“Some clients are like just take it slow if we need to cut it if we can treat it... let me know what I have to do,” said Ogletree.

More than six million people in the U.S. have Alopecia and it can affect anyone.

“This can attack any nationality of people,” said Ogletree.

Ogletree says not only does Alopecia affect someone’s outer appearance but it also does something to their confidence.”

“Not just to women but men too, a lot of times our hair is our glory... so to just all of sudden and there are patches of baldness in the scalp.. that’s pretty traumatic,” said Ogletree.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for the disease but Ogletree says there are things you can do to make living with Alopecia easier.

“If you feel as if you’re suffering from it, there are some things you can take or the doctor can prescribe that can slow it down a bit,” said Ogletree.