The slap heard around the world – Will Smith shock celebrities and viewers at home when he slapped Chris Rock after he made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Here is everything we know.
The comedian made a tasteless joke referring to the actresses buzzed head saying
Jada I love you, G. I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.
Jada has been open about losing her hair due to alopecia. Will then walked on stage and slaps Chris.
After the slap, he then returned to his seat and was seen yelling at the top of his voice at the comedian.
Leave my wife’s name out of your fu**ing mouth.
First academy award of Will Smith
Will went on to win Best Actor for his role in King Richard –his first Oscar award. He then delivered an emotional speech which had him apologizing to the academy and his fellow nominees but not Chris Rock. –
In this business, you got to be able to have people disrespecting you, you gotta smile, you gotta pretend like that’s okay.
After the incident, Will was seen to receive support from Bradley Cooper, Tyler Perry, Diddy and Denzel Washington. We told Smith – “your highest moment be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you. It’s like I want to be a vessel for love”.
In 2016 Chris took a dig at Jada for boycotting the Academy Awards during his opening monologue. He said “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties, I wasn’t invited”.
The organizer’s reaction to the incident
Now, during his speech, Will said he hope the academy would invite him back. But they later tweeted – “the academy does not condone violence in any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world”.
Stars who were both in attendance and watching from home had a lot to say about the incident, from Rock’s joke to Will’s slap.