Amid a wave of criticism, Will Smith is now appearing to laugh off the controversy he sparked by slapping Chris Rock across the face during his stand-up routine at the Oscars.
During his routine, Chris made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will's wife, and made a direct reference to her hairdo. Chris had told Jada, who suffers from alopecia, that he was excited to see her in GI Jane 2, referencing the famous shaved head Demi Moore donned in the film.
Shortly afterwards, Will stormed the stage and slapped Chris across the face. As he went to sit down, he was heard shouting at Chris: "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."
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Will went on to win best actor for his role in King Richard. Minutes after the slap, he apologised for his actions but said he was 'defending his family'
The incident has left fans divided on social media, with some praising Will's actions for defending his wife while other called his reaction uncalled for. Now, Will seems to have suggested that he wasn't taking the whole thing seriously, commenting in the first post following the slap: "You can't invite people from Philly or Baltimore nowhere!!"
His comments are in reference to his hometown of Philadelphia and his wife's hometown of Baltimore. His comment was added to a video that he'd captioned: "Me 'n @jadapinkettsmith got all dressed up to choose chaos".
In the clip, they walked towards each other to embrace while dressed lavishly for the special ceremony. One shocked fan wrote in the comments: "No way you just did that Will …."
But another admonished Chris, writing: "Chris Rock said what now???" "And Choose chaos you did," another laughed.
While another commented: "Wtf dude... chill out!!!" And a third penned: "Come on, as a comedian yourself you know Chris was joking at this point in your career you can’t take a joke that was completely out of hand."
"You were so inappropriate tonight responding with violence. So disappointing in your reaction. Violence is never the answer," one fumed.
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