Things got a bit awkward and tense during the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night. On the stage, comedian Chris Rock had appeared to present an award when he noted Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith watching on from the crowd. Referring to Jada’s short hairstyle, Rock said to the actress, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, I can’t wait to see it.”
Will Smith fired back at Chris Rock
Very quickly, the joke made things awkward, as Jada was clearly bemused. She has been open in the past about her struggles with alopecia, a hair loss condition. Moments later, as Rock prepared to move on with his speech, Smith could be seen walking directly toward him on the stage. The Best Actor nominee reared his hand back and gave Rock a slap hard enough to be picked up by the comedian’s mic. On the American broadcast, the audio was then muted, but Smith could be seen shouting something at Rock.
The uncensored footage of the incident has been floating around on social media, revealing the audio. After the slap, Rock seems to shake it off pretty well while remarking to himself, “Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.”
A clearly-heated Smith, after taking his seat, then shouts two times at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!”
“I’m going to, okay,” Rock retorts, taking a moment to let the surreality of the moment sink in. “That was uh… greatest night in the history of television.”
This was supposed to be a wonderful night for Will Smith, as he was a favorite heading into the Academy Awards to win Best Lead Actor for his role in the biopic King Richard. The other nominees for the award included Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos); Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog); Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick … Boom!); and Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth). Fortunately for Smith, he came up the winner, which should have made his night a little bit better after that altercation with Chris Rock.
Smith ended up winning Oscar for his role in King Richard
In his acceptance speech, Smith got emotional speaking about Richard Williams, the subject of King Richard and the father and trainer of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. The actor said he felt like he’s been called upon in life to love people and to protect people. Smith also thanked the Williams family for entrusting him to take on that story for the hit film. Before leaving the stage, however, Smith took a moment to apologize to the Academy as well as his fellow nominees, perhaps referring to the brush with Rock earlier in the night.
“Love will make you do crazy things,” Smith noted, noting before he left the stage that he hopes “the Academy invites me back.”
If you want to check out Smith and his Oscar-winning performance in King Richard, you can find the acclaimed movie now streaming on HBO Max.
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