The Oscars 2022 will be remembered for a jaw-dropping scene when actor Will Smith appeared on stage and seemed to slap presenter Chris Rock in the face. Chris walked up to the 94th Academy Awards stage to deliver the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, (given to Summer of Soul BTW) and made a remark about Will’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, whose head was shaved. “Can’t wait to see GI Joe 2,” Chris said, pointing to her Oscars 2022 ensemble.
Chris’ Reaction To It All:
“Wow,” said Rock, naturally being stunned at this violent reaction. “Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.” When Smith went back to his chair, his statements were censored, but it was clear that he warned Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your f***king mouth.” “Wow, dude. “It was a G.I. Jane joke,” Rock explained. “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth,” Smith said again as the crowd went quiet, according to witnesses. “I’m going to,” Chris replied before adding, “That was the greatest night in television.”
The Reason for Will’s Backlash
Jada Pinkett Smith‘s baldness is due to alopecia, an autoimmune disease that makes hair fall by attacking hair follicles, and Jada has been open about this to the public. This explains her look for the Oscars 2022. Rock later approached the Smiths to apologize, according to insiders, and Denzel Washington got involved. Later, when Smith came to accept the award for Best Actor, he opted to speak about the ‘incident’. He cried as he stated, “I want to apologize to The Academy; I want to apologize to all of my fellow nominees. I hope the Academy invites me back.”
How popular stars reacted to the incident:
From inside the auditorium, stunned celebs were seen watching the situation unfold, with Australian actress Nicole Kidman encapsulating us all perfectly.
After Smith smacked Rock, Judd Apatow posted a tweet. Apatow remarked: “He could have killed him. That’s pure out-of-control rage and violence. They’ve heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshman in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind.” However, after being chastised for being “ridiculous” and “dramatic,” Apatow took down the post.
Actor, satirist, writer George Hahn also spoke out on this incident on Twitter saying, “Will Smith could make history as the first actor to win an Oscar and be arrested for assault on the same night”.
Also commenting on the ‘vessel of love’ comment in Will’s award acceptance speech, author Mick Foley tweeted, “Maybe being a vessel of love should have included apologizing to the guy he slapped the sh%t out of on live TV.”
Related: Troy Kotsur creates history by becoming the first deaf actor to win an Oscar for his role in “CODA”
In the best actor in a supporting role category for the Oscars 2022, Kotsur knocked over Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog), Ciaran Hinds (Belfast), J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos), and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog), among others. “This is amazing to be here on this journey. I cannot believe I’m here,” Kotsur stated in sign language as he won the prized medal. “This is dedicated to the deaf community, the CODA community, the disabled community. This is our moment,” he added.
