Unless you’ve been living under a (Chris) Rock since last weekend, you’ll no doubt have seen the shocking footage of Will Smith’s Oscars outburst approximately 8,000 times already. In a fit of rage at a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s short hair – caused by the autoimmune condition alopecia – Smith slapped the comic on stage at the awards, before dropping a series of f-bombs.
The grim ruckus has been analysed every which way this week, with a series of famous names – from Nicki Minaj to, er, Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak (cringe) – entering the fray to offer prognoses on Smith’s career, or merely to throw shade.
Here are the Guide’s winners and losers of “slapgate”, in Hollywood and beyond.
The losers
Will Smith
Unsurprisingly, Smith has been squarely in the line of fire this week, with many appalled at his behaviour and the Academy launching an investigation into his conduct. OJ Simpson also came to his defence – arguably not the most welcome endorsement.
Zoë Kravitz
Until this week, the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet was riding high. As well as winning the genetic lottery, she had recently received much acclaim for her performance as Catwoman alongside Robert Pattinson in The Batman. However, an Instagram reference to “the award show where we’re apparently assaulting people” led Twitter users to home in on seemingly suggestive comments Kravitz had made about Smith’s son Jaden when he was 14, and an interview where she said that she “didn’t identify with Black culture”, such as “hip-hop” and “Tyler Perry movies”.
Jim Carrey
Similarly, Carrey’s condemnation of “spineless” Hollywood prompted Twitter users to unearth a video of him lunging at Alicia Silverstone for a kiss at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards.
Judd Apatow
The Knocked Up director went further in his criticism of Smith, saying that he “could’ve killed” Rock, and warning Amy Schumer not to attend the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty. Many accused Apatow of double standards (James Franco was accused of assaulting Busy Phillips on his show Freaks and Geeks, for example) while writer Roxane Gay described it as “a wild thing to say”. Apatow later deleted his tweets.
Alan Davies
The opinion that no one wanted, but which we got nonetheless. The Jonathan Creek actor described Smith’s behaviour as “unreasonable”, before social media users reminded him that he himself once bit a homeless man, allegedly for referring to him by his most famous character’s name.
The entire cast and crew of Coda
The majority-deaf drama scooped best picture … and has had roughly zero press since. A genuine tragedy.
The winners
The Oscars
Just when it looked like the biggest controversy was West Side Story actor Rachel Zegler’s invite getting lost in the post, a meh year for the Academy Awards was given a viral boost, with 500,000 viewers tuning in post-slap and millions more dissecting it online.
Chris Rock
Despite making a documentary on black women’s complicated relationship with their hair, Rock still decided that Pinkett Smith’s alopecia was fair game. Even so, he’s come out on top, via much sympathy and an increase in sales for his upcoming tour.
Liam Payne
The singer’s incoherent red carpet rant, complete with Irish (?) accent, was truly one of the more uplifting moments of the week.
Pfizer
If internet conspiracy theorists are to believed*, then Pfizer planned the whole thing to hawk a new alopecia drug. Result!
*Please don’t actually believe them
LaKeith Stanfield
The Atlanta actor expertly swerved questions from a Variety reporter on the night, describing it as “crazy … it was surreal … in places all over the world surreal stuff be happening”. Truly the Switzerland of the Academy. See also: Daniel Radcliffe, who declined to comment on the matter.
Jada Pinkett Smith
Despite the apparent humiliation Pinkett Smith suffered at the awards, she has garnered much sympathy. And although the actor has yet to comment on the incident directly, she has since described the present moment as “a season for healing”. Moreover, online searches for alopecia have spiked, with many sharing personal stories of how the condition has affected their lives. However, it’s unlikely she will stay stumm on things for long, her bread and butter these days being the online talkshow she presents with her mum, Adrienne, and daughter Willow. Prepare for a very interesting Red Table Talk …
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