The Oscar stage got a tensed moment when Chris Rock, the presenter at the 94th Academy Awards,
Was slapped by Will Smith after he made a joke at the expense of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” Rock said with reference to Pinkett Smith’s appearance.
Will Smith initially seemed to be laughing following Rock’s comment. But he then stormed the stage and slapped Rock in the face. “Wow,” said Rock afterward. “Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.”
Smith’s comments were bleeped after he returned to his seat, but it was apparent that he told Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your f***king mouth.”
Pinkett Smith’s suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that she has been public about battling, which causes hair loss by attacking hair follicles.
Rock later went to the Smiths to apologize, and Denzel Washington got involved.
Smith later returned to the stage to claim the award for Best Actor, as predicted.
“Will, Chris, we are gonna solve that like a family at the gold party,” presenter P. Diddy later said in the immediate aftermath.
Later, when Smith returned to claim the prize for Best Actor, he addressed the moment with Rock. “I want to apologize to The Academy; I want to apologize to all of my fellow nominees,” he said through tears. “I hope the Academy invites me back.” Smith, it should be noted, did not apologize on stage to Rock.