Wait, what happened between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars?
It was a confusing moment, whether you watched the show live or only saw video clips online.
Keep watching for the story of the slap heard 'round the world.
The 2022 Oscars took a wild turn when Will Smith hopped onstage and had a physical altercation
with Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Rock said, referring to Jada's bald head,
"Jada, love you, 'G.I.
Jane 2,' can't wait to see it."
Jada was seen rolling her eyes, but Will reacted much more strongly.
He walked up to the stage, slapped Rock right in the face, and went back to his seat.
While the live broadcast in the United States muted the exchange, uncensored versions from
other countries made rounds on the internet.
Smith also dropped the F-bomb to warn Rock.
He said twice,
"Keep my wife's name out of your f---ing mouth!"
Rock then addressed the audience, saying,
"Will Smith just smacked the s--- out of me.
That was the greatest night in the history of television."
"It's so much easier to just live as who you really are, and feel bad when you feel bad."
Many viewers thought at first that the moment was a staged comedy bit, but after seeing
Smith's reaction, fans took to Twitter to express their shock and disappointment at
an exchange that was apparently all too real.
One tweeted,
"Unfortunately, it was not staged...
It was embarrassing, in poor taste and ill-timed.
Will could have easily addressed it at the after party.
Also took away from QuestLove's moment."
Rock was on stage to present the Best Documentary award, which was won by the film "Summer of
Soul."
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots was among the producers, and it was indeed hard
to pay attention to his speech.
Another fan tweeted,
"Will was so wrong.
Violence is never a solution.
So unfortunate for both parties."
When someone theorized the moment was staged, another Twitter user said,
"Na man, 99 times out of a 100 I'd agree with you but no Will Smith just lost his mind.
Unfollowed him now, that assault was uncalled for."
There are also fans who thought there was more to the altercation than meets the eye.
Said one,
"There is way more to this.
It is so completely out of character for Smith.
The dude just snapped."
Soon after the incident, P. Diddy came onstage for a tribute to "The Godfather."
He tried to make peace, saying,
"I did not know this was going to be the most exciting Oscars ever.
Will and Chris, we're going to fix this with love."
Things got even weirder when Will Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance
in "King Richard."
Smith apologized to the Academy for his behavior… but not Rock.
He started:
"I know to do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse.
You got to be able to have people talk crazy about you.
In this business you got to be able to have people disrespecting you.
And you got to smile and you got to pretend like that's okay."
Then he tearfully launched into the apology:
"I want to apologize to the Academy.
I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees.
This is a beautiful moment and I'm not crying for winning an award.
It's not about winning an award for me.
[...] Art imitates life.
I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams."
As it turns out, Chris Rock's joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head goes much deeper
than a "G.I.
Jane" punchline.
Jada first spoke out about being diagnosed with Alopecia, a disease that develops when
the body attacks its own hair follicles, in 2018.
On an episode of "Red Table Talk," she explained,
"I was in the shower one day and had just handfuls of hair in my hands and I was just
like, 'Oh my God, am I going bald?'"
Since then, Pinkett Smith has been very open about the diagnosis.
She wrote alongside an Instagram video in 2021,
"Mama's gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery
or something.
Me and this alopecia are going to be friends ... period!"
In the video itself, she said,
"So I thought I'd just share it so y'all are not asking any questions.
Mama's gonna put some rhinestones in there.
I'm gonna make me a little crown."
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