Who hasn’t heard of what happened at the Oscars yet? If you haven’t, let us ease you into it...Has
it ever come to your thoughts that a big mega star would ever slap the face of
another megastar on The Oscars? Well, that’s what happened. As Chris Rock said: “wow! Will
Smith just smacked the sh””t out of me!” Why did Will Smith do that? What did
Chris Rock do to drive Will to do so? And what was Chris Rock’s reaction?
Stay tuned. What did Chris Rock actually do?
Will Smith came to the stage and slapped Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett
Smith. The comedian's statement that Jada's shaved hairdo was reminiscent of iconic film character
G.I Jane did not appear to impress the Men in Black star. Since 2018, Jada has been
vocal about her hair loss problem, Alopecia. "Jada, GI Jane 2, I can't wait to watch it,"
Rock teased the Oscars crowd at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles during a sketch. Jada,
50, was plainly irritated by the remark, rolling her eyes. Will Smith, on the other hand, was the
one who took action. Will stormed the stage after rising from his seat and slapping Chris Rock in
the face in front of a visibly stunned audience. Chris, visibly shaken, attempted to dismiss the
experience. "Wow, Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me," he replied, rubbing his cheek.
"Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth," Will said as he returned to his front row seat.
The incident left everybody in a “what’s just happened” moment!
Will has come to his senses: He then apologized to the Academy
as well as his fellow acting nominees. He repeated his apology from the night before
after winning his Best Actor trophy - 15 minutes
after the confrontation with Chris Rock. “I want to apologize to the Academy,
I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment.”
He apologized to the Academy and the audience right away, but he didn't address Chris.
Alternatively, you might apologize to him at the moment.
The 53-year-old was honored for his performance in the film King Richard as Richard Williams.
It depicts the story of Serena and Venus Williams' upbringing as tennis stars.
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” Smith continued. “In this time
in my life, in this moment I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do.” He added that
“Love makes you do crazy things,” seemingly in reference to his behavior and offering an
explanation as to why he slapped Chris Rock. Will also brought up a statement made by
Denzel Washington, another actor. During the time between the incident and Will earning the award,
he was informed of this. "Be careful when you're at your most vulnerable...
that's when the devil comes for you," he said. Yes, one day after the altercation,
Will Smith issued a public apology to Chris Rock via Instagram. He wrote,
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris, I was out of line and I was wrong. I’m
embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for
violence in a world of love and kindness.” Will called his actions "inexcusable"
and "unacceptable." He went on to say that the joke regarding his wife's medical condition
had him "reacted emotionally." The Academy’s response to the incident:
The Academy said in a statement that they asked Will Smith to leave the ceremony after the slap,
but he "refused." They went on to say that the actor's Board of Governors had begun disciplinary
proceedings against him for “inappropriate physical contact, abusive or threatening behavior”
which compromised “the integrity of the Academy”. “At the next board meeting on 18 April,
the Academy may take any disciplinary action,
which may include suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions,” the statement clarified.
The Academy originally declared their intention to start a formal investigation in a statement
posted a day after the incident. “The Academy condemns the actions
of Mr Smith at last night’s show,” it read. This was a change from their earlier statement,
which didn't mention Smith and instead declared that they don't "condone violence in any form."
This initial public statement earned the Academy some flak. Some argue that
it did not go far enough in responding to the on-screen assault quickly enough.
“You watched and broadcast a live assault to millions of people around the world,
then awarded a man who committed said assault immediately afterwards without removing him
from the building or having him arrested for the crime,” one Twitter user replied. “That’s
the definition of condoning the violence.” The Academy's tweet drew a direct response
from American comedian Rosie O'Connell. "Then why didn't you do anything?" she enquired.
Before we go to what Chris Rock has said about the incident, let’s see some celebrities reactions
towards the incident such as Jim carrey Celebrities choosing sides
Some celebrities supported Will's actions, such as Janet Hubert who has a long history with Will.
They were co-stars on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a cult smash show. Hubert had a falling out with
Smith at the time, and she was immediately replaced by Daphne Maxwell following Season
3. Since then, the two actors have reconciled. Will Smith, Hubert believed, was in the right.
Chris Rock ambushed Jada and justified Will Smith's actions, which she didn't enjoy.
She stated: “Yes, there is only so much one can take...sometimes you have to slap back. Celebrate
the win...nothing else matters. Both actions were incorrect but Chris didn’t need to go there.”
Tiffany Haddish said: “When I saw a Black man stand up for his wife, that meant so much to me.”
Nikki Minaj has also looked from Will’s perspective: “While People Saw The Joke,
Will Smith Saw His Wife’s pain” Imagine what it must feel like to be losing your hair to
the point where you have to shave it bald. You think that’s easy to deal with for anyone? You
don’t think she’s cried about that many times?” As for celebrities who disagreed: Judd Apatow
expressed: “He could have killed him. That’s pure out of control rage and violence.”
Everyone in the front row was being mocked by Chris Rock. And he didn't spare anyone. Will
Smith's assumption that Rock singled out his wife was incorrect from the start. Chris Rock,
according to Mia Farrow, who has been in films such as Rosemary's
Baby and The Omen, did nothing wrong. “It was just a joke. Jokes are what Chris
Rock does. Always has been edgy. This was a mild joke for him. And I love GI Jane.”
Another MEGASTAR commented on the two megastars incident, and that is Jim Carrey. He said: I was
sickened. I was sickened by the standing ovation. I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse.
And it really felt like this is a really clear indication that we’re not the cool club anymore.
I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for 200 million dollars,
because that video is going to be there forever. It’s going to be ubiquitous.
That insult is going to last a very long time. If you want to yell from the audience or disapprove
or show disapproval, or say something on Twitter or whatever. You do not
have the right to walk up on stage and smack somebody in the face because they said words.
It didn’t escalate, it came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that’s
frustrated. And I wish him the best, I really do. I don’t have anything against Will Smith.
He’s done great things, but that was not a good moment.”
The show was definitely ruined by that moment, which drove Wanda Sykes,
the co-host of the 2022 Academy Awards, to respond to the event. In her appearance on Ellen,
Sykes stated that the Academy should have taken action against Chris
for slapping him after making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's baldness.
“To let him stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award,
I was like, ‘How gross is this? This is just the wrong message,’” added Sykes.
She stated that she and her co-hosts "put a lot of effort into putting the show together,"
DeGeneres agreed with Sykes, claiming that the hosts' work had been "overshadowed."
Sykes was reportedly irritated that "no one has apologized" to her and her
co-hosts except for Chris Rock himself! Chris Rock’s response to the incident:
Wanda told Ellen that Chris Rock apologized to her at the after-party for the slapgate event.
She said, "The first thing he said was 'I’m so sorry.’”
Sykes continued that she asked the comedian why he was apologizing to her, to which he said,
"It was supposed to be your night. You and Amy and Regina, y’all were doing such a great job.
I’m so sorry. This is now going to be about this." Besides humbly apologizing to Wanda and the hosts,
Chris Rock, the comedian, says he's "still processing" the incident in question.
He also stated that he was not yet ready to talk about it. But, when he's ready,
he'll do so in both a serious and comedic manner. Rock said the crowd at Boston's Wilbur Theater as
he kicked off his Ego Death tour. “I had written a whole show before this weekend”. he said
“I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s***,” he added.
“It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes.”
Despite the altercation, Chris Rock has decided not to seek charges against Will Smith,
according to reports. If you think that was shocking,
wait till you watch this video!