Will Smith who won the best actor award the 94th Academy Awards slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage of Oscars 2022 after he got miffed at the latter's joke directed at his wife Jada Pinkett Smith on Sunday evening(March 27,2022).
In a moment that triggered awkward silence and confusion in the Dolby Theatre, Will Smith stormed the Oscars stage and struck comedian Chris Rock across the face for joking about his wife. The shocking moment that immediately went viral and left stunned viewers questioning if it had been scripted or genuine.
"Keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth," yelled Smith, forcing the producers to bleep out several seconds of audio from the televised broadcast in the United States.
Rock who was presenting the best documentary prize with a short comedy routine, had cracked a joke comparing Jada Pinkett Smith's tightly cropped hair to Demi Moore's appearance in the film "G.I. Jane" Chris Rock had said Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, was going to be in the next “G.I Jane” movie, a reference to her lack of hair.
Initially, Smith was laughing but Jada clearly looked affected by the joke. Smith then took to the stage to punch Rock.
Many in the ceremony looked stunned by the altercation. Diddy, who was the next presenter addressed the situation by saying: "Will and Chris, we're going to solve that like family. Right now we're moving on with love. Everybody make some nose.
Later, when Will won the Best Actor award, he said in his speech, “I'm gonna apologise to the Academy. Im gonna apologise to my fellow nominees...art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
Will won in the Best Actor category for his performance in King Richard.
Last year, Will's wife Jada Pinkett Smith had announced that she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia.