Following on from Will Smith's now-infamous Oscars altercation with Chris Rock, a player has created Slap Chris, a PC browser game in which players are able to slap Rock. The incident has led to countless memes spread across the internet, and Smith's slap has even spawned video game memes.
When presenting the award for Best Documentary at the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's alopecia, a medical condition where people lose their hair. Rock compared Pinkett Smith's shaved head to G.I. Jane, and shortly after, husband Will Smith walked onto the stage and slapped Rock before returning to his seat, where he then demanded that the comedian didn't make further jokes about his wife. While many have condemned Smith's actions, that hasn't stopped the influx of memes based on the event, and video game fans have even gone so far as to recreate Will Smith's slap in WWE 2K22.
Browser game Slap Chris, based on the Will Smith Oscars slap, comes from creator Tyler Hamilton. Hamilton is known for satire, with other games such as Glady Bird, a Flappy Bird parody that sees former Australian politician Gladys Berejiklian on the hunt for COVID-19 vaccines. The premise of Slap Chris is simple: players must move a hand emoji to an image of Chris Rock's face as quickly as possible. Upon connecting the hand to Rock's face, a kilometer-per-hour counter updates atop the screen, measuring how fast the slap was. Response to the game on Hamilton's Ko-Fi page has been positive, with followers donating money and leaving favorable reviews about the simple, yet addictive satirical game, with some calling it the "Highlight of [their] day!" and saying it "[gave them] something to get [through their] meeting!"
As is often the case with viral celebrity moments, it was perhaps only a matter of time before a surreal parody browser game was released. Will Smith has since posted an official apology to Chris Rock for his actions, and the LAPD confirmed that Rock isn't pressing charges for the incident, but the seriousness of the altercation seemingly hasn't dampened the jokes and memes that have followed the event. The Academy has since said they are looking at what actions should be taken to punish Smith, condemning any form of violence.
Despite those involved in the Will Smith and Chris Rock Oscars slap incident appearing to want to move past it and making moves to do so, the internet seems to continue to make light of it, with more memes being made daily. As everyone does begin to move on to new meme-worthy events, they will still be able to look back on Hamilton's Slap Chris as a reminder of the memorable Oscars moment that stunned its audience into silence.
Source: Slap Chris, Tyler Hamilton/Ko-Fi