Serena Williams appears to have reacted to Will Smith hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars over a joke made about Jada Pinkett Smith.
On Sunday, the King Richard star proceeded to hit Rock on-stage following a joke the comedian made about his wife’s shaved head. Pinkett Smith has spoken numerous times about her hair loss as a result of alopecia. Smith then shouted for Rock to “keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth”.
The tense exchange prompted Rock to state: “Wow, dude. Yeah it was a GI Jane joke,” to which Smith again yelled at the presenter to “keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth”.
Following the moment, which resulted in stunned reactions from audience members and viewers, Williams appeared to react to the incident on her Instagram Stories, where she filmed a video of herself looking shocked shortly after Smith hit Rock.
In a second video, the tennis star explained that she had had to sit down and “had to put her drink down,” before again showing off a shocked expression.
While viewers, audience members and fellow celebrities were left reeling by Smith’s reaction to Rock’s joke, the awards show then proceeded uninterrupted, with the King Richard star winning the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena. The film is inspired by the life and tennis careers of the sisters.
During a tearful acceptance speech, Smith praised Richard as a “fierce defender of his family”.
“I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people,” said Smith, adding that he was not crying because he won an award but because he was able to “shine light” on all the people in the film, as well as “the entire Williams family”.
“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said. I look like the crazy father just like they said about Richard Williams but love will make you do crazy things,” Smith said, after apologising to “the Academy” and to “all my fellow nominees,” but notably, not Rock.
Find the full list of 2022 Oscar winners here.
