Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock at The Oscars Over Joke About His Wife
An astonishing exchange occurred after Will Smith got offended by a joke made by Chris Rock about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, during the 94th Academy Awards. Smith got up from his seat near the stage, marched up to Rock, and slapped him when Rock quipped that Jada Pinkett Smith should star in a sequel to ‘G.I. Jane’.
He compared her cropped hair to Demi Moore’s appearance in the film, which was totally wrong because Jada suffers from Alopecia and it’s definitely not something to be joked about. After returning to his seat, Smith yelled at Rock saying, “keep my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth.”
The audience inside the Dolby Theatre, as well as viewers at home, were taken aback by the scene. Presenter Daniel Kaluuya approached Smith during the commercial break to hug him, and Denzel Washington walked him to the side of the stage. They talked and hugged. Tyler Perry joined in as well.
Smith later won Best Actor Oscar for his performance in King Richard. In his acceptance speech, he said, “I wanna apologize to the Academy… to all my fellow nominees. … Art imitates life, I look like the crazy father! … Love will make you do crazy things.”
He added, “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family. In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who is one of the strongest, most delicate people I’ve ever met. I got to protect Saniyya and Demi, the two actresses that played Venus and Serena,” he said, as he began to tear up. “I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people. 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.”
The show had been operating rather smoothly up until that point. Troy Kotsur became the first deaf actor to win an award, while Ariana DeBose became the first Afro-Latina to win an Academy Award for supporting actress.
Following record-low ratings and a pandemic-plagued 2021 ceremony, producers turned to one of the greatest stars in the world — Beyoncé — to kick off an Oscars aimed at reviving the awards’ status in pop culture.
Beyoncé sang her “King Richard” nominated song, “Be Alive,” in an elaborately choreographed performance from a lime-colored, open-air stage in Compton, where the Williams sisters grew up, after an introduction by Venus and Serena Williams.
After two years of pandemic, the Hollywood rite of splendour resumed on 27th March under a balmy California sun, with a packed red carpet and a COVID-tested audience.
The Oscars leaned heavily on musical performances (Billie Eilish, Reba McEntire), film anniversaries (“The Godfather,” James Bond”), and as many mentions of the “Encanto” breakout song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” as possible to help reclaim the cultural limelight. As a result, the event was frequently upbeat, with less emphasis on the pandemic. Mila Kunis, who was born in Ukraine, led a 30-second moment of silence for Ukraine. Some celebrities, like Sean Penn, had lobbied the Academy to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak at the event.
—Silviya.Y
