Chris Rock's brother, Kenny Rock, challenges Will Smith to a fight after the infamous Oscars incident. The 94th Academy Awards saw the likes of Coda winning Best Picture and Dune walking home with six Oscars, but the moment everybody was talking about was when Smith walked up on stage and slapped Rock on live TV. Rock was presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature when he made a joke comparing Jada Pinkett Smith's hairstyle to Demi Moore's look in the 1997 film GI Jane. While first appearing to laugh at the joke, Smith decided to slap the comedian, go back to his seat, and scream at Rock to "Keep my wife's name out your f*cking mouth."
Even though Smith assaulted somebody on live TV, the actor won and accepted the award for Best Actor less than an hour later. The Academy has been criticized just as much as Smith for not removing him, but police were ready to arrest Smith if Rock decided to press charges. Rock declined to press charges and left the event after presenting the award. At the beginning of April, Smith resigned from the Academy and, a few days later, was banned for ten years from attending or making a virtual appearance at the prestigious event.
Just as the drama surrounding the situation started to die down, according to TMZ (via Comicbook), Kenny Rock challenged Smith to a fight. After signing a deal with Celebrity Boxing founder Damon Feldman, Kenny Rock suggested Smith be his first opponent. When asked if he thought his brother Chris and Smith should fight, Kenny Rock said, "No they shouldn't. But I should get in the ring with Will Smith." He also said he thinks he could take Smith in a fight, stating, "Yes, no offense to us about it. I'll let the hands do the talking."
Even though Smith was angry about the joke given his wife's struggle with alopecia, a common type of hair loss, most agree that violence was not the appropriate response. Aside from being banned from the Oscars, Smith's career is already starting to take a hit. Bad Boys 4 is reportedly on hold following the incident, 40 pages of which Smith had already been given to read over. Fast and Loose, Smith's upcoming Netflix movie, has also been put on hold following the controversy. With Smith being involved in several other projects, including blockbusters like I Am Legend 2, it's unknown if his actions will continue to impact his career.
Smith's outburst is undoubtedly a low point in his personal life, but Chris Rock has been praised for how he handled the situation and continued on with the ceremony. The actor has stated that he doesn't wish to speak about the incident until he gets paid to, and his brother Kenny previously said he didn't think Smith's apology was genuine. While that belief is fair enough, fighting violence with violence, as he's suggested, isn't the answer. That being said, Smith is trying to put the situation behind him, so he likely won't even bother responding to Kenny Rock's request.