The slap seen around the world: How Will Smith initially LAUGHED at Chris Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair before losing it and storming the stage to assault the comedian
- Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock after he made a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith on Sunday
- Chris, 57, said he was looking forward to ‘G.I. Jane 2’ joking about Jada’s bald head
- Jada, 50, has been open about her struggle with hair loss which is the result of alopecia
- Will, 53, was initially seen laughing at the joke before he stormed the stage and assaulted the comedian
Will Smith slapping Chris Rock around the face for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head at the Oscars sent shockwaves around the world on Sunday.
The jaw-dropping moment took place moments after Rock arrived on stage to present the award for Best Documentary Feature.
It all kicked off when Rock, 57, pointed to Smith, 53, and his wife, quipping: ‘Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.’
The joke was in reference to the 1997 film G.I. Jane, a role that actress Demi Moore famously shaved her head for.
At that point, the camera turned to Smith, who at first was seen visibly laughing at the gag and even clapped his hands, a gesture that seemed to suggest he saw the funny side.
But as Smith laughed while still seated, Pinkett Smith – who has been open about her struggle with hair loss and alopecia – visibly rolled her eyes, looking furious.
The slap: Moment Will Smith stormed the stage at the 94th Academy Awards and assaulted comedian Chris Rock who had just made fun of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith
‘That was a nice one!’ Rock then said on stage, justifying his joke as a mild one.
However, in the seconds that the camera had cut-away, Smith then jumped from his seat and stormed the stage as Rock was heard saying: ‘Uh-oh…’
This is when the world saw King Richard star Smith – who would later collect an Oscar for Best Actor – approach Rock and promptly slap him across the face.
Looking good: As Chris Rock walked out onstage, Will Smith was seen smiling, in a jovial mood
Pointed dig: Chris held out his hand to point at Will and Jada as he made the joke, ‘Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.’
Laughs: At this point, Will was seen laughing at the joke and did not seem offended
Stony-faced: However, Will’s wife Jada – who has been open about her hair loss and struggle with alopecia – began to roll her eyes
Not amused: Jada, 50, continued to roll her eyes but Will, 53, was still laughing and even clapped his hands at the remark
‘Wow,’ Rock could be heard saying after the assault. ‘Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.’
In footage that had been uncensored, Smith was heard saying: ‘Keep my wife’s name out your f***king mouth.’
Actress Lupita Nyong’o, who was sitting near Smith, could be seen visibly confused at what had just happened as some audience members were left wondering if it had been part of some pre-arranged skit.
Taking risks: Chris seemed pleased with how the joke had gone down, telling the crowd it was a ‘nice’ one
Smile before the storm: Chris was seen laughing until he told the crowd, ‘Uh-oh,’ suggesting trouble was afoot
Making his way: Will jumped up on the stage in a brisk manner heading straight towards Chris
What the world saw: Will was seen clearly taking a swing at Chris, and slapping him across the face
‘Wow,’ Rock could be heard saying after the assault. ‘Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.’
But as Will made his foul-mouthed tirade, Nyong’o’s expression quickly turned serious.
The exchange was muted on a delayed telecast in much of the US, but was aired in full to some international audiences.
After being slapped, Rock appeared shocked and flustered as he tried to resume presenting the best documentary feature category.
Aftermath: Smith was then seen heading back to his seat
Shaken: Rock looked understandably shocked as Smith walked away
Back to his seat: Smith kept a poker face while returning to his wife
Keep calm and carry on: Rock continued to present the award for Best Documentary Feature
‘That was the greatest night in the history of television,’ Rock said, before awkwardly returning to presenting best documentary, which went to Questlove’s ‘Summer of Soul (…or When the Revolution Was Not Televised).’
Rapper Diddy was the next person on stage to acknowledge the fall-out as he said: ‘Will, Chris, we are gonna solve that like a family at the gold party. For now, we will move on with love.’
Later, Smith opened his acceptance speech with an emotional defense of his assault on Rock for mocking the short hair of Pinkett Smith, who suffers from a medical condition that causes hair loss.
A different composure: Smith then looked visibly agitated while some of the audiences members (including Lupita Nyong’o) were seemingly confused by the scuffle
Shocked: Actress Lupita could be seen visibly stunned as she began to understand the severity of the situation
In footage that had been uncensored, Smith was heard saying: ‘Keep my wife’s name out your f***king mouth.’
Eyes front: Stars around Smith began to realise what they had just witness was real
‘Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,’ Smith said in his first remarks. He continued: ‘I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.’
Smith went on to issue a tearful partial apology for his emotional outburst, but did not apologize to Rock. ‘I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment,’ he said.
‘Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father’ said Smith. ‘But love will make you do crazy things.’
‘That was the greatest night in the history of television,’ Rock said, before awkwardly returning to presenting best documentary
Shock: The comedian was understandably flustered by the assault
Late Sunday night, the LAPD issued a statement saying that Rock had not filed a police report against Smith, but that if he chooses to do so, police will investigate.
‘LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program,’ the statement said. ‘The incident involved one individual slapping another.’
It was not immediately clear whether the Academy would penalize Smith in any way for his outburst.
After the incident: Will and Jada hold hands as his name is called out for his Best Actor win
Emotional: Will began to cry as he talked about his role of King William, and made reference to his earlier brawl with Chris
‘Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,’ Smith said in his first remarks. He continued: ‘I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.’
OSCARS 2022: WINNERS
BEST PICTURE
Belfast (Focus Features)
Coda (Apple) – WINNER
Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
Drive My Car (Janus Films/Sideshow)
Dune (Warner Bros)
King Richard (Warner Bros)
Licorice Pizza (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
The Power Of The Dog (Netflix)
West Side Story (20th Century Studios)
History: Coda became the first ever streaming film to win Best Picture as it upset The Power Of The Dog
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story – WINNER
Judi Dench – Belfast
Kirsten Dunst- The Power Of The Dog
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ciaran Hinds – Belfast
Troy Kotsur – Coda – WINNER
Jesse Plemons – The Power Of The Dog
J.K Simmons – Being The Ricardos
Kodi Smitt-McPhee – The Power Of The Dog
Amazing: Troy Kotsur became the first male actor to win an Oscar for Coda
COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella (Jenny Beavan) – WINNER
Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
Dune (Jacqueline West)
Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)
West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
Belfast
Dune – WINNER
No Time To Die
The Power Of The Dog
West Side Story
ORIGINAL SCORE
Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell)
Dune (Hans Zimmer) – WINNER
Encanto (Germaine Franco)
Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)
The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (Sian Heder) – WINNER
Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe)
Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve)
The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
Shining moment: Sian Heder earned Best Adapted screenplay for the film as it went three for three on the night
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast (Kenneth Branagh) – WINNER
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay & David Sirota)
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)
King Richard (Zach Baylin)
The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt)
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Affairs Of The Heart
Bestia
Box Ballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper – WINNER
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye – WINNER
On My Mind
Please Hold
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Drive My Car – WINNER
Flee
The Hand of God
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
The Worst Person in the World
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune (Zsuzsanna Sipos & Patrice Vermette) – WINNER
Nightmare Alley (Tamara Deverell & Shane Vieau)
The Power of the Dog (Grant Major & Amber Richards)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Stefan Dechant & Nancy Haigh)
West Side Story (Rena DeAngelo & Adam Stockhausen)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield – tick, tick… BOOM!
Will Smith – King Richard – WINNER
Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye – WINNER
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart – Spencer
All eyes on her: Jessica Chastain finally won her first Best Actress trophy for her titular role in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye
DIRECTING
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog – WINNER
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story
FILM EDITING
Don’t Look Up (Hank Corwin)
Dune (Joe Walker) – WINNER
King Richard (Pamela Martin)
The Power of the Dog (Peter Sciberras)
Tick, Tick… Boom! (Myron Kerstein & Andrew Weisblum)
MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye – WINNER
House Of Gucci
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Encanto – WINNER
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells VS The Machine
Raya And The Lost Dragon
ORIGINAL SONG
Be Alive — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Darius Scott (King Richard)
Dos Oruguitas — Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)
Down to Joy — Van Morrison (Belfast)
No Time to Die — Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell (No Time to Die) – WINNER
Somehow You Do— Diane Warren (Four Good Days)
Not a bad guy: Billie Eilish and brother FINNEAS earned Best Original Song for No Time To Die from the James Bond film of the same name
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball – WINNER
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul (Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) – WINNER
Writing with Fire
VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune – WINNER
Free Guy
No Time To Die
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Epic: Dune swept the technical awards as Greig Fraser is shown accepting the Best Cinematography gong
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune (Greig Fraser) – WINNER
Nightmare Alley (Dan Lausten)
The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Bruno Delbonnel)
West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)
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