The world reacts to Will Smith's shocking assault on Chris Rock at the Oscars

If you were watching the Oscars yesterday and found yourself looking like a deer in headlights after the Will Smith moment, honestly, same.

And if you're not sure what I'm talking about and have been seeing millions of out of context memes, here is what happened during yesterday's 94th Annual Academy Awards:

Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith were minding their own business at the Oscars when out of nowhere, their long time friend Chris Rock went on stage and made a tasteless joke about Jada's lack of hair – it's tasteless because she has alopecia.

As a result the fresh prince jumped up out of his seat, stormed on stage, hit Rock and shouted: "Get my wife's name out of your f****** mouth."

Fans take to Twitter to share their reactions following Will Smith's assault on Chris Rock. Photo / Getty Images

Everyone was like "what the heck just happened?" and things got even wilder when not even 20 minutes later Smith won an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in King Richard.

While the world was catching its breath, the Smiths' son, Jayden, quickly took to Twitter to share his reaction saying, "And That's How We Do It."

— Jaden (@jaden) March 28, 2022

And then Twitter got its turn. Viewers have chimed to have their say with tweets covering the entire situation from start to finish.

— Dan (@Craic_Pot_Kehoe) March 28, 2022

— Auron (@auronplay) March 28, 2022

— Anneliese Bustillo (@anni_magus) March 28, 2022

— 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𓆩𖤍𓆪ꪾ (@RishIsBack7) March 28, 2022

— marc (@marc_lourence) March 28, 2022

— SuperVilli@N (@NYstate2000) March 28, 2022

— Benji (@Cule_Ben) March 28, 2022

But the reactions don't stop there. It seems even celebrities have been indulging in the Twitter reactions. New Zealand director Taika Waititi is yet to publicly comment on the matter but was pictured in a tweet by Derek Blasberg looking as shocked as we felt.

— Derek Blasberg (@DerekBlasberg) March 28, 2022

And former Golden Globe presenter Ricky Gervais gave fans a hint he was not impressed with the assault. The star was absent from the award ceremony but has since liked tweets including one by actor Rob Reiner saying, "Will Smith owes Chris Rock a huge apology. There is no excuse for what he did. He's lucky Chris is not filing assault charges. The excuses he made tonight were bull****"

He also liked a tweet saying: "After all the initial joking I hope Will Smith has to return his Oscar. His behaviour was unacceptable. He's a bully and deserves to be punished."

Meanwhile, Judd Apatow wrote in a since-deleted tweet, "He could have killed him", continuing on to say, "That's pure out of control rage and violence. They've heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshman in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind."

He later added, "I have more hair on my back than on my head and I can take a joke about it."

— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) March 28, 2022

American comedian Kathy Griffin also weighed in, with a tweet addressing Smith's "bad practice".

— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 28, 2022

While plenty of tweets have condemned the star's violent outburst, others have shown compassion for Smith. Rapper, Nikki Minaj told fans, "while y'all seeing the joke he's seeing her pain".

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) March 28, 2022

Smith also received support from fellow Hollywood stars immediately after the assault. Tyler Perry and Denzel Washington were shown chatting next to the stage, with Perry and Washington placing a hand on Smith's back and Smith at one point nodding in agreement.

Denzel Washington comforts Will Smith during the show at the 94th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Photo / Getty Images

Actor Bradley Cooper also showed support for the actor as he embraced Smith and appeared to deliver some words of encouragement while tapping him lightly on the chest.

The pair then hugged tapping each other on the back several times, and pulled away briefly for a short discussion, before hugging again.

Cooper appeared to comfort Smith after the incident. Photo / AP

Smith has since issued a lengthy apology on Instagram in which he admitted his actions were "wrong" and said he was out of line.