Los Angeles, Mar 28 (PTI) In a wild, viral moment, so improbable many thought it had to be scripted, Hollywood star Will Smith rushed up to the Oscar stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian cracked a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Minutes later, the 53-year-old actor bagged the best actor Oscar for his role in “King Richard”, making him the cynosure of attention good and bad at the 94th Academy Awards.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) distanced itself from the incident, likely to go down as amongst the most infamous in the Oscar’s 94-year history, saying it does not support “violence of any form”.
Rock, whose first reaction was to come up with another wisecrack, declined to press charges against Smith, according to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department.
“Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me,” Rock, who was on stage to announce the best documentary feature award, said as millions watched the action live on their screens.
In his emotional acceptance speech after winning the best actor trophy, Smith referenced the incident and apologised to the Academy for what transpired earlier. However, he didn’t name Rock or apologise to him.
“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees,” he said tearfully.
Smith also said he hoped the Academy will “invite” him back.
The volatile exchange began innocuously enough. Rock, 57, decided to land a joke on Pinkett-Smith before announcing the best documentary feature winner.
He said Pinkett-Smith could star in “G.I. Jane 2”.
Pinkett-Smith, who was seen rolling her eyes at the joke, currently sports a bald look due to alopecia, an autoimmune disorder. Actor Demi Moore had famously shaved her head when she starred in 1997 action-drama “G.I. Jane”.
Smith, who was initially seen laughing at the joke, suddenly walked up to the stage and slapped Rock, a moment that evoked laughter in the immediate from some audience members who probably thought it was all part of the script.
After going back to his seat, Smith shouted at Rock, saying, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth!” Seated behind Smith was “Black Panther” star Lupita Nyong’o, who was captured on camera looking on in disbelief.
Rock then said, “Wow dude. It was a ‘G.I. Jane’ joke’.” He also said, “That was the greatest night in the history of television.” Smith was later “pulled aside” and spoken to by veteran star Denzel Washington and actor-filmmaker Tyler Perry during the commercial break that followed, according to reports in sections of the American media.
Rapper Diddy, who appeared next to introduce the segment on the 50th-anniversary celebration of “The Godfather”, addressed the situation. “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like a family. Right now we’re moving on with love. Everybody make some noise,” he said.
After that, Smith was announced as winner of the best actor trophy for playing Richard Williams, the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, in “King Richard”.
Reflecting on the ‘Slapgate’ incident that is now viral on social media platforms, the Hollywood star said “love will make you do crazy things”.
“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things,” the actor said by way of explaining his anger.
Smith then shared what Washington told him after the incident.
“I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people… You got to be able to take abuse, you got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you got to be able to have people disrespecting you and you got to smile and you got to pretend like that’s okay.
“Thank you Denzel (Washington), who said to me a few minutes ago… he said, ‘at your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you’.” The Academy posted its statement on Twitter after the ceremony.
“The Academy does not condone violence of 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,” it said.
“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 LAPD added in a statement.
Rock had also mocked Pinkett-Smith in his 2016 Oscars monologue when he was a host, saying she had boycotted the ceremony because mostly white actors were nominated. PTI RB RDS BK MIN MIN MIN
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