What the heck just happened? That’s what fans were asking themselves when in the middle of Chris Rock’s presenter introduction, Will Smith suddenly flew out of his seat and seemed to punch the comedian. Quite a few seconds of silence as ABC tried to bleep out, cursing followed. Let’s figure out what went down in Chris Rock and Will Smith’s 2022 Oscars fight. Elite Daily has reached out to reps for both parties for a statement.
We should maybe roll back a few years to start. Back to 2005, to be exact, the only time Chris Rock hosted the Oscars. His jokes were funny, far funnier than any Oscars since, but they were brutal, and he was never asked back. One of those jokes that he told at the time was about Jada Pinkett-Smith, who said she was boycotting the ceremony due to the lack of diversity among the nominees. This was a decade before #OscarsSoWhite, and Hollywood did not take the complaints seriously. Rock took the issue seriously but made fun of Pinkett-Smith’s announcement saying, “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.”
Rock’s Oscar appearance this time in 2022 once again came with a joke at Jada’s expense. Rock started riffing on the appearance of some of the attendees and, seeing Jada’s shaved look, announced he was looking forward to G.I. Jane II. (This is a complete 1990s reference, for the record, the first G.I. Jane starred Demi Moore in 1997, and the press made a big deal over her bald head.)
Jada did not look amused. But Will was furious. He flew out of his seat, walked right on stage, and appeared to punch Rock full in the face.
So what happened? In America, the next 30 seconds were frozen and silent, but the broadcast did not cut away in Japan. The video clearly shows Rock being struck full force (and viewers can hear the smack from Will’s open hand), so it’s not fake. Rock then said, “Wow! Wow, WillSmith just smacked the sh*t out of me.”
Smith returned to his seat, but he wasn’t finished. At the top of his lungs, he yelled to Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth.” When Rock stuttered that it was just a G.I. Jane joke, Smith repeated himself, louder and more forceful. Rock then quickly dropped it.
What fans might not know is that Rock tripped on a sensitive subject for Pinkett-Smith. She has spoken before that she suffers from alopecia, that it’s been a long journey for her to accept her hair loss, and that she’s still struggling with her new appearance. Her hairdo isn’t a fashion statement; it’s due to her condition reaching a point that she doesn’t have much choice.
But though the moment was genuinely shocking, it seems like someone may smooth it over. Diddy took the stage as the next presenter and promised Smith and Rock, “Will and Chris, we’re gonna solve that at the Gold Party,” referencing the Oscar afterparty hosted by Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
