Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock At The Oscars: Here’s What Happened
Will Smith slaps Chris Rock after throwing an offensive joke about his wife's shaved head... who's suffering from alopecia.
Will Smith, one of the most beloved actors in Hollywood, was caught on camera slapping comedian Chris Rock during the Oscar night celebration. The reason for the slap?
Apparently, Smith didn't appreciate a joke that Rock made about his wife - Jada Smith - with her condition, alopecia. “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it. Alright?” Rock seems confident with his joke adding, “That was a nice one!”
After Smith saw his wife roll her eyes, the actor went on the stage and slapped Rock right across the face!
“Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” Rock said after receiving a slap on his face.
Smith went back to his seat and yelled, "Keep my wife's name out of your f*cking mouth!"
Rock agreed and said, "That was uhh... [the] greatest night in the history of television." while maintaining his composure.
A few minutes after the incident, Smith called on the stage to receive his Oscar award for winning as best actor for King Richard’s movie.
The actor delivered an emotional speech about family, “Oh, man. Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family.” Then he started to shed tears.
“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, you got to pretend like that’s ok.”
“I want to apologize to the academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees… Thank you for this moment. And thank you on behalf of Richard and the entire Williams family. Thank you. I hope the academy invites me back.” he said without apologizing to Rock.
After the speech, Smith started to receive support from other artists like Denzel Washington for standing up for his wife.
Later on, he publicly apologized to Rock on his Instagram post saying, “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.
I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am 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.
I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees, and everyone watching around the world. I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us. I am a work in progress.”
Rock remained unbothered by the incident. In the end, the comedian didn’t file a case although he was a little shocked by Smith’s reaction to his joke.