Will Smith slapped Chris Rock live onstage during the 2022 Oscars presentation. Rock, an actor and stand-up comedian, has previously hosted the Oscars and is well known for his comedic chops. In addition to stand-up comedy and hosting gigs, Rock has starred in a number of features, most recently in the Saw reboot, Spiral. Rock also appeared in the FX series Fargo.
Smith is the star of the Oscar-nominated King Richard, for which he won Best Actor. Smith was previously nominated for his performances in The Pursuit of Happiness and Ali. Smith recently released his autobiography, "Will", and has appeared in a number of reality shows, including the NatGeo series Welcome to Earth on Disney+, as well as his The Best Shape of My Life YouTube series.
While Rock was on stage to present Best Documentary, the actor/comedian made a few jokes about the fellow attendees, one of them being Will Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. The joke in question was in relation to Pinkett-Smith's short hair, comparing her to G.I. Jane. Pinkett-Smith was visibly annoyed by the joke, at which point Smith approached the stage and slapped Rock before walking back to his seat. Rock reacted, saying, "Will Smith just smacked the shit outta me." Smith yelled at Rock from his seat, saying, "Keep my wife's name out your f*ckin' mouth!", which he repeated twice. Rock, seemingly dazed by the reaction but carried on with presenting the award. Check out the full unscripted moment below:
An emotional Smith took the stage afterward when he won Best Actor and talked about wanting to love and protect those he worked with on King Richard. The actor said during his speech that "Love will make you do crazy things" and likened his behavior that evening to being like the "crazy father" he played in the film. Smith apologized to the Academy during the speech and said he hoped they would invite him back, but never mentioned Rock or offered an apology for the incident between the two. During his speech, Smith also said that Denzel Washington had given the actor an ominous warning, saying, "At your highest moment, be careful, that's when the devil comes for you."
The Oscars have suffered in the last decade with plummeting ratings and controversial content, but this is sure to be a moment that's talked about for years to come, let alone go down in the halls of Oscar history. While there will surely be more commentary and explanation as to what went down in the days to come, there will also be debate as to whether or not it helped or hurt the ceremony, especially during an era when the Oscars have seemingly lost favor with viewers. Of course, there will also be debate over whether or not the entire thing was a ratings stunt, which may or may not ever be revealed. Beyond that, there's also the discussion of what it does for Will Smith's reputation, which will hinge greatly on how audiences and peers feel about the onstage spat.
Source: Variety, Timothy Burke