Watch: Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock After Oscars Host Jokes About Wife Jada Pinkett Smith
Hollywood has been rocked after one of its most beloved multi-generational actors physically assaulted an Oscars host after making a questionable joke about his wife.
Will Smith stormed the Oscars stage moments after comedian Chris Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith in relation to GI Jane 2, an apparent reference to Pinkett Smith shaving her head due to her having alopecia.
“Jada, I love ya. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” Rock said.
Though Smith seems to laugh at first, Pinkett Smith can be seen reacting negatively to the jab. Moments later, Smith enters the stage, approaches Rock, who says “uh-oh” as Smith approaches, before he strongly slaps Rock across the face.
“Wow,” Rock replied, stunned. “Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me.”
In the ensuing silence, Will Smith can be heard twice shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth.”
Visibly stunned, Rock takes a few moments, before saying: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
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To make the night even more strained, Smith won the award for Best Actor just moments later for his role in King Richad, where he plays the role of Richard Williams, the driven father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams.
During his speech, Smith broke into tears, calling himself a “vessel of love” and talking about “protecting” his family, just like Williams had.
“Richard Williams, um, was a fierce defender of his family. I know, to do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse, you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you, in this business you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you. And you gotta smile and you gotta pretend like that’s okay. But Richard Williams—and what I loved—Denzel said to me a few minutes ago, he said, ‘At your highest moment, be careful, because that’s when the devil comes for you.’”
Social media was ablaze with reactions, with the hashtags #arrestwillsmith, #whatjusthappened as well as “Good for Will” all trending on Twitter.
Smith’s son, 23-year-old Jaden Smith, tweeted: “That’s how we do it.” However, his comments section quickly became filled with memes referring to the alleged “entanglement” between Pinkett Smith and rapper August Alsina that had been revealed to the world on Pinkett Smith’s show, Red Table Talk.
And That’s How We Do It
— Jaden (@jaden) March 28, 2022
Sophia Bush made a more nuanced point, saying: “Violence isn’t ok. Assault is never the answer. Also? This is the second time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the Oscars stage, and tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather.”
Violence isn’t ok. Assault is never the answer. Also? This is the 2nd time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the #Oscars stage, & tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather.
— Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) March 28, 2022
Other comedians were a bit more worried by the precedent this could set:“Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian,” said comedian Kathy Griffin.
“Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theatres.”
What did you make of this insane Oscars moment?
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