As India woke up to the list of Oscar 2022 winners on Monday morning, a shocking news went viral before the name of the winner movie. The 94th Academy Awards witnessed an odd incident. American actor Will Smith went up on stage and slapped or punched stand-up comedian and presenter Chris Rock!
Yes that's right Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage minutes before winning his first Oscar for King Richard.
The 94th Academy Awards saw a rather eventful day, with many left wondering if Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in the face, before shouting and swearing at him from his seat, was all some kind of joke.
While Chris Rock was presenting the camera pointed on Will Smith's face reavealed Smith shouting at Chris Rock, for a joke the latter cracked on his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Referring to Pinkett Smith's shortly shaved hair, Rock said: "Jada, can't wait for GI Jane 2." After hearing Rock’s comment, Will Smith went onto the stage, and slapped the presenter. The ‘Men In Black’ actor then screamed twice at the top of his lungs "Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth," and walked away.
See the video here
To the slap Chris Rock told the audience, “Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me. It was a G.I. Jane joke. That was the greatest night in the history of television." While Rock was seen trying to smile awkwardly after being slapped, his face grew serious. The actor quickly made the announcement, and left the stage.
Was the ‘Oscar slap’ scripted?
What kept the internet and viewers confused was whether Will Smith slapping Chris Rock was some kind of a joke or a a scripted incident.
According to a report in The Guardian, during the commercial break, Denzel Washington pulled Smith over to the side for a conversation, and was kneeling with his arm around Jada Pinkett Smith when the show came back from commercial. In the lobby, people huddled around their phones watching replays of the incident.
“I don’t think that’s a joke," one woman said.
While many weren't sure if the moment was staged or real, it's possible that Rock's reference to Pinkett Smith's hair touched a nerve with Smith, as she has recently spoken publicly about a struggle with alopecia following her diagnosis in 2018.
Pinkett Smith has shared videos on social media talking about the autoimmune disorder, which can cause hair loss and balding. Saying in the past she "struggled" with it, but now "laughed" and refused to "take it lying down".
Sitting right behind Smith, actress Lupita Nyong'o was seen reacting to the situation, glancing between Smith and Rock several times in disbelief at what she's seeing.
The Academy authorities shared a update later where they wrote, "The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world."
Will Smith Oscar Speech
“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I'm not crying for winning an award. It's not about winning an award for me. It's about being able to shine a light on all of the people," he said, “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. Love will make you do crazy things."
After saying his thanks, the actor Will Smith ended the speech by saying, " I hope the Academy invites me back."
In a loaded speech, Will Smith said, “I'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people. I know to do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse. You got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business you got to be able to have people disrespecting you. And you got to smile and you got to pretend like that's okay."
