The American actor was in the middle of his presentation of the “Best Documentary” award, when he was surprised with the blow of Will Smith.
This incident occurred in the middle of the Oscar gala. It all started by performing a short pre-comedy routine. Rock made a joke comparing Jada Pinkett Smith’s short hair to Demi Moore’s shaved-haired character in the 1997 movie “GI Jane” (“To the limit” in Latin America, “La Teniente O’Neil” in Spain).
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When the cameras focused on the faces of Smith and his wife, they were still laughing. However, Rock decided to make one more comment about Jada and unleashed the wrath of the Oscar winner. “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2. I can’t wait to see it.”
At that point, Smith realized his wife was upset, so he stormed onto the stage and punched Chris. After the attack, Rock could only say: “Oh, uh”.
Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Smith returned to his seat next to Jada, while no one understood if it had been a prearranged event or an assault. From there he shouted some obscenities and threatened the driver loudly and very seriously:
“Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!”
It should be noted that images later emerged that allowed the comedian’s apology to be heard.
Pinkett Smith has been open about her struggle with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss.
Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder.
The theater fell silent and Rock said, “That was the best night in the history of television.” Sean “Diddy” Combs took the stage later and told Smith and Rock that they would work things out “as a family” later.
Later videos allowed to know what happened in the commercial cut after the fact, previously commented by specialized chroniclers such as Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter, present in the theater: Smith, tearful, had to be “separated and comforted” by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry during a commercial break.
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“Will and Chris, we are going to solve this as a family. Right now, we move forward with love.”said singer and actor Sean “Diddy” Combs, introducing the next section of the gala.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION
The Hollywood Academy, the institution that organizes the award ceremony, issued a brief statement on its social media profiles.
“The Academy does not condone any type of violence. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate the winners of our 94th Academy Awards, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and from film lovers around the world.” He points out the brief text in which he does not clarify much more about the episode that toured the planet live.
It is not the first time that Rock makes fun of the couple
Chris Rock and Will Smith have also been involved in a controversy over Jada Pinkett-Smith on another occasion. In 2016, Rock made a joke about the actress campaigning against the Oscars due to the lack of black nominees.
“Her husband Will was not nominated for Concussion. I get it. One gets upset. It’s not fair that Will was so good and didn’t get nominated. You’re right (…) It’s also not fair that Will was paid $20 million for Wild Wild West!”said the artist, referring to the comedy that the rapper and actor did in the 90s and that was poorly received by critics.
receives the oscar and apologizes
Will Smith won the shortlist for Best Actor at the 2022 Oscars. Upon receiving the award, the actor took the opportunity indirectly to apologize for the moment caused.
“I want to apologize to the Academy, to all the nominees in my category. It is a beautiful moment, I am not crying to win an award, it is about giving light to people, to the whole King Richard team and to the whole Williams family”. “I look like the crazy dad as Richard was called, but love makes you do crazy things. I want to be able to take care of my mom, my family and my wife, thanks for this moment, I hope the Academy invites me again”.
Photo: Antenna 3.
Is violence justified?
The truth is that it is not justified in any way. This event marked an important repercussion in the world of Hollywood, so there were artists justifying this fact, and others who have not done so in the slightest.
A well-known Spanish newspaper cataloged this fact as “Another flagrant case that perfectly sums up everything that men should not be“.
The comments condemn the violent gesture of the actor. Some go further and try to understand the reasons behind his behavior, referring to the brutal abuse that his father inflicted on his mother and of which he was a witness, to establish a link between his experiences as a child and his current behavior. These facts are expressed in “Will”, Smith’s autobiography published in 2021.
It was not immediately clear at this time whether the Academy would penalize Smith in any way for his outburst.
Source: Infobae.