The stunning moment at the Oscars when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage wasn’t just about a joke made at Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense.
Rock was onstage at the Oscars to present Best Documentary, and true to form as a stand-up comic, he began sending barbs out into the crowd. After making a quip about Denzel Washington, Rock turned his attention to Jada Pinkett Smith, saying he was looking forward to seeing her in G.I. Jane II. (Pinkett Smith was sporting a buzzcut, just like Demi Moore’s character in the 1997 film G.I. Jane). But Pinkett Smith has been open about her struggles with hair loss and bald spots caused by alopecia. “Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something,” she wrote on Instagram in December. “Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!”
Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes after Rock’s joke. The Oscars telecast then went mute for a spell as Smith walked to the stage and hit Rock. Telecasts in Japan and other countries aired the whole thing. “Will Smith just smacked he sh-t out of me,” said a stunned Rock. Smith responded: “Keep my wife’s name out your f-cking mouth,” and repeated the phrase.
Later in the evening, Smith won his first Oscar for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.
In his acceptance speech, Smith apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees, and drew parallels between himself and Williams, saying he was standing up for his family. “I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” he said before adding, “Just like they said, I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
The moment sent the Dolby Theater into a stunned panic and caused a firestorm on Twitter. A few minutes later, P Diddy tried to defuse the situation, saying: “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve this like family at the Gold Party.”
On Twitter, Vanity Fair reporter Rebecca Ford reported that Washington played mediator in the situation.
It’s not the first time Rock has made a joke about the couple’s at the Oscars. When Rock hosted the Oscars in 2016, he brought the couple up in the context of the #OscarsSoWhite boycott, which Pinkett Smith supported. “Jada’s going to boycott the Oscars? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna‘s panties. I wasn’t invited!” he said.
Rock appeared on a 1995 episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, playing Smith’s character’s date for an evening. In 2011, Rock delivered a routine about Smith on David Letterman’s The Late Show, pretending to complain about the success of Smith’s children, Jaden and Willow Smith. “The guy’s already taking parts from me. Now, his kids are taking parts from my kids. Will Smith, don’t you have enough?” he told Letterman.
And many jokes were directed at Smith and Pinkett Smith earlier in the night. When co-host Regina Hall delivered a bit insinuating she wanted to sleep with many of the famous actors at the Oscars, she poked fun at the couple’s marital situation, which Smith has acknowledged is an open relationship. “You’re married, but you know what? You’re on the list, and it looks like Jada approved you, so you get on up here!” Hall said to Smith.
The Los Angeles police department issued a statement following the Oscars alluding to the incident, saying that the person who was slapped declined to press charges.”
