Will Smith had a physical meltdown and smacked Chris Rock after the Oscars presenter joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair at Sunday night’s awards.
The shocking moment happened while Rock was presenting the award for best documentary feature. The comedian ventured off topic and suggested Pinkett Smith could star in a sequel of G.I. Jane due to her bald head.
The actress has been open about having alopecia, which causes sudden hair loss. When Rock made the comment at Sunday night’s show, the camera cut away to Jada who appeared upset.
Will then stormed the stage, slapped Rock in front of the live audience and said, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fu–ing mouth!”
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Rock was visibly stunned and responded, “Oh wow. Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s— out of me.” Rock added, “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.”
“I’m going to… ok,” Rock continued before shaking his head in disbelief.
Diddy was the next presenter on stage after the altercation. The hip-hop mogul tried to ease the tension inside the Dolby Theatre by saying, “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve this like family. Right now we’re moving on with love. Everybody make some noise.”
Later in the show, Smith won the Oscar for best actor and made references to “protecting” his family as well as being able to “protect” the two actresses who played Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.
“I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” Smith said in his speech. He also admitted he now seems like the “crazy father” he played in King Richard.
As tears fell from his eyes, Smith added: “Love will make you do crazy things.”
Many viewers on social media called for the LAPD to respond, however, the police department released a statement saying Rock had declined to press the matter.
“LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program. The incident involved one individual slapping another. The individual involved has declined to file a police report. If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report,” the department said in a statement to the media.
Watch an uncensored version of the altercation below.
UNCENSORED WILL SMITH FOOTAGE AS SHOWN ON AUSTRALIAN TV pic.twitter.com/NcRfdjWxqe
— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 28, 2022