LOS ANGELES — During the 94th Academy Awards, an unexpected altercation occurred on the stage as comedian Chris Rock was presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
Before presenting the award, Rock was performing a set of jokes when he made one targeted at Will Smith, and then moved on to a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
"Jada, I love ya. 'G.I. Jane 2' can't wait to see it," Rock joked to Pinkett Smith, who has been open about living with alopecia, which can cause hair loss and balding.
The joke did not seem to land well with Pinkett Smith, who rolled her eyes. But the situation went a step further when Smith took the stage to defend his wife.
Smith approached Rock and appeared to smack him on stage. Audio cut out, but Rock could be heard saying "Oh wow. Wow. Will Smith just smacked the **** out of me."
After walking back to his seat, Smith yelled at Rock, who was explaining his joke, telling him to "keep my wife's name out of your ******* mouth."
A short time later, audio was returned and Rock went on to present the award for Best Documentary Feature, which went to "Summer of Soul."
Will Smith smacked Chris Rock, went back to his seat and yelled "Keep my wife's name out of your ******* mouth" after Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith at the #Oscars and I am still shook. pic.twitter.com/fC5mb0xbcB
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) March 28, 2022
Later in the show, Smith went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, giving a very emotional speech on stage. During his acceptance speech, Smith apologized to the academy and his fellow nominees, saying, “This is a beautiful moment. Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father. But love will make you do crazy things.”
"I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees," Will Smith says in intense and lengthy remarks that occurred after he hit Chris Rock on the #Oscars stage.https://t.co/1H1Y9jC9bl#oscars pic.twitter.com/IlpBjx8lgD
— ABC News (@ABC) March 28, 2022
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