Oscars 2022: Will Smith smacks Chris Rock after ‘joke’
Actor Will Smith smacked Chris Rock in the face during the Oscars 2022 after the comic made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock said: “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” a joke made about Jada’s bald hairdo – which is a result of alopecia.
Smith initially laughed at the joke about his wife’s bald head before walking on stage and slapping Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”
The audience seemingly couldn’t work out if the bit was staged at the beginning – it wasn’t clear until Smith shouted to Rock to not talk about Jada for a second time, that the audience was silent realising it wasn’t staged.
The moment was not shown live on TV – but the original footage has been posted online.
Smith later apologised on stage when accepting the Oscar for Best Actor. “I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to my all my fellow nominees,” he said during a tearful acceptance speech for best actor.
Will Smith Oscars 2022 acceptance speech
The actor won Best Actor for his role as the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in the film King Richard.
“Art imitates life,” he said. “I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
The actor said Richard Williams was a “fierce defender of his family” and that he himself was “being called on” in his life “to love people and to protect people”.
He ended it by saying he hoped the Academy would invite him back.
Read his acceptance speech in full here.
Will Smith Oscars 2022 – the reaction
Rock made the reference to the 197 film GI Joe – a film starring Demi Moore who had shaved her head for the role.
When Rock made the comment the camera’s panned over to Will and Jada – Will initially was seen laughing and clapping, Jada looked less than impressed and was seen rolling her eyes at the comment.
When Smith slaps Rock, the comedian looks shocked in the immediate aftermath but tells the audience: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, tweeted that it “does not condone violence of any form”.
The Los Angeles Police Department later told Variety that Rock had “declined to file a police report” following the event.
Rock was on stage to hand over the best documentary prize – which he continued to hand out following the incident.
According to reports, a ‘tearful’ Will Smith was “pulled aside and comforted” by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry.
Bradley Cooper was also seen standing next to Smith, appearing to comfort him.
