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Oscars smackdown: Will Smith slaps Chris Rock live on stage

An extraordinary awards moment took place when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after a gag insulting his wife -was it real?

Was it real or was it staged?

Either way a Live TV moment at the 94th Academy Awards will go down as a moment in awards history.

Chris Rock and Will Smith had an altercation during the 2022 Oscar telecast. Rock appeared on stage to present the Oscar for documentary feature and made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith being in “G.I. Jane” because of her shaved head. Smith then took the stage to slap Rock.

Although it appeared to be a joke at first, Smith returned to his seat and yelled at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!”

Many in the Oscars audience appeared stunned at the altercation.

Diddy was the next presenter during the ceremony, where he appeared to introduce the 50th anniversary celebration to “The Godfather.” Diddy addressed the situation by saying, “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve this like family. Right now we’re moving on with love. Everybody make some noise.”

Smith went on to win the Best Actor award for King Richard.

“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I’m not – I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award. Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things,” he said.

To my mother, a lot of this moment is really complicated for me. To my mother, she didn’t want to come out, she had her knitting friends, she has a knitting crew, she’s in Philly watching. Being able to love and care for my mother and my family, my wife, I’m taking up too much time, thank you for this honour. Thank you for this moment. And thank you on behalf of Richard and the entire Williams family. Thank you. I hope the academy invites me back. Thank you.

Language.

This post updates.

Source: Variety

29 Responses

  1. It’s interesting to see the fallout today has focussed on Will Smiths response to the insult, rather than the insult itself. I heard some interviews yesterday on ABC radio with the alopecia community who found Chris Rocks joke quite offensive. We mustn’t allow a poor reaction to overshadow the dreadful joke he tried to make, and I can’t help but think that Will Smiths behaviour was so out of character as to make him the easier target for derision. A better conversation could be had around cause and response rather than just response.

  2. What Smith did was a disgusting display of toxic masculinity and he should be stripped of his award, charged with assault and banned from all future events. However the comments made by Rock were vile, abhorrent and derogatory and completely unacceptable. He should also be banned for life from any hosting duties, making jokes about someone’s medical condition is completely out of line.

  3. Geez, struggling to see how one of the biggest Oscar moments in history, an actor in the audience assaulting a presenter live on stage, has been usurped in the lead story by “How Selling Houses Australia lured Wendy Moore back on camera”.

    I’m finding that more disturbing than the slap!

  4. if this is not a publicity stunt then Smith should be stripped of his award. What sort of msg does it send to people, if he keeps its ok to be a thug on live tv?

  5. Very embarrassing and shameful. I think the person that was reported in the media who said on social media that Will and Jada should’ve both walked out in dignity, even if it meant missing the award was the best response. There’s also the issue of how the organisers handled the situation as well afterwards. Should they have tolerated the violence by allowing Will to stay? In any case, it’s inappropriate to joke about alopecia. It’s a sensitive topic for many to lose hair. Though there are a lot of issues in the background as well. These people are representative and in the public eye. Nearly all eyes were on them this morning/last night around the world. Anyway, I don’t like to be troubled by this incident and will carry on despite the major media coverage. There is much more to the world than this.

  6. Oprah Presents……. Smith and Rock: Their First Interview. Coming soon on a screen near you….

    Jokes aside: A shame that it had to come to this. Movies had a downturn in recent years, and sadly, all we’re talking about is this shameful incident on a tasteless joke and its aftermath,

  7. My initial thought was that is was staged, but chris rock would have to be a very good actor to be so chirpy and relaxed right up until the slap if he knew it was coming.

    So I guess that’s Will Smith cancelled then? Must be record timing between a career peaking and being cancelled.

  8. Will and Rock will have a hug and make up later and maybe even star in a movie together. Remember, any publicity is good publicity especially in Hollywood. Now if Rock got slapped by Steven Seagal that could have been a different matter.

    1. I’ve never believed that saying. A lot of publicity is bad – look at the impact on Prince Andrew, Brian Houston etc. , and they will never recover their reputation. I’ve spoken to a number of people at work today and they all say they’ve lost respect for Will.

  9. Nobody’s covered themselves in glory in this exchange. The joke was … tasteless, the reaction was juvenile (I know the Oscars isn’t a dry event, but that’s not to excuse what’s gone on). I’m still making my mind up on the Academy. I know there’s little that can be done regarding the result … given there’s almost 10k members, but I feel there ought to be. It does not feel right. And the precedent it sets for when a comedian gets heckled — even if the joke is in poor taste. I keep thinking back to Glenn Milne … was it 15 years ago?? Feels like that long ago. Anyone know what he’s up to now?

  10. Well I don’t think anyone expected that to happen?!
    It is interesting how ABC (US) managed to silence the swearing but 7 played it in its entirety, I would of thought we were more delayed than the US broadcast or just a copy. Then 7 was sharing the uncensored version on their FB page, all well I guess we’re not as sensitive to swearing over here.

    1. Exactly so glad I watched the Oscars live and saw it happen. Much better than seeing highlights this is why I still want to watch live – and I mean also as broadcast tv – cause you never know what’s going to happen. Anyway the most disgusting thing after what Will did was the audience giving him a standing ovation absolutely disgusting. He didn’t even deserve the Oscar before the slap.

  11. Disgraceful behaviour on Smith’s part. He should have the award taken off him. Rebel Wilson must be glad he was not in the audience at the BAFTAS after the much harsher joke she made at his and his wife’s expense.

    1. Many are saying this but for the life of me I don’t understand how it will increase ratings it was live…and now across all media. sadly it takes away from the great win by CODA

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