Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock Across the Face During the Oscars
CHRIS ROCK was telling a few jokes while presenting an award, and he turned his attention to WILL SMITH and JADA PINKETT. Jada's head was shaved, so Chris said, quote, "Jada, I love ya. 'G.I. Jane 2', can't wait to see it."
("G.I. Jane" is a 1997 movie featuring DEMI MOORE going through military training . . . with a shaved head.)
At first, Will seemed to laugh about it . . . but Jada looked annoyed.
Suddenly, Will walked right up onstage and smacked Chris in the face. Hard. Then he went back to his seat.
Chris was stunned. He said, quote, "Wow, Will Smith just smacked the [crap] out of me."
Will responded by shouting back, "Keep my wife's name out your [effing] mouth!"
Rock replied, quote, "Wow, dude, it was a 'G.I. Jane' joke." And Will repeated, "Keep my wife's name out your [effing] mouth!"
Chris said, "I'm going to, okay?" Then he went on and presented the award, but he was obviously shaken.
On the broadcast, the whole exchange was muted after the slap. But there's plenty of uncensored audio on the Internet.
So, was Will out of line? Should he and Jada be able to take a joke, just like the bazillions of other celebrities who've been made fun of at award shows? You would think so, yes.
But there's one detail that MAYBE justifies Will's actions: Jada shaves her head due to a medical condition. She has alopecia, which causes hair loss.
(Here's a video she posted back in December.)
Sources say Chris approached Will and Jada backstage later to apologize, and DENZEL WASHINGTON got involved. There's no word how that went down. (But during the commercial break, Denzel and Tyler Perry were seen calming Will down.)
Will did sort of address the incident later on when he won Best Actor for "King Richard". And he apologized to the Academy, and to his fellow nominees . . . but NOT to Chris Rock. He started the speech by saying that his character was, quote, "a fierce defender of his family" . . . and he talked about being a "protector" of his loved ones.
He also said, quote, "Art imitates life, I look like the crazy father . . . just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things." And he finished with, quote, "I hope the Academy invites me back. Thank you."
(You can read Will's entire acceptance speech here. Here are some stills of the slap.)
After the show, Will and Jada's "very tough son" JADEN SMITH Tweeted, quote, "And that's how we do it."
Variety Reports: Chris Rock Declines to File Police Report After Will Smith Slap at Oscars, LAPD Says
Los Angeles Police Department Statement: "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."