In an apparently unscripted moment at tonight’s Oscar ceremony Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock over a joke he made at Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense.
Rock made a comment about Jada’s shaved head … saying he couldn’t wait to see G.I. Jane 2 — which got some groans from the crowd, to which he just sorta shrugged off. Smith then punched Rock and told him “keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
See the unedited version from Japanese TV:
And Chris Rock rolled with it calling it “a greatest night in the history of television.”
Will Smith was then named best leading actor for King Richard.
Pinkett-Smith has been public with her alopecia diagnosis for a while and has been documenting her struggle with hair loss.
Earlier in the night Regina Hall, according to US Weekly:
…made a joke at the expense of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith during the 2022 Oscars — and the couple handled it like champs.
The Little star, 51, mentioned the A-list couple while hosting the 2022 Oscars on Sunday, March 27, during a bit where she said certain audience members’ COVID-19 tests had been “lost.” Hall called actors including Bradley Cooper, Simu Liu and Timothée Chalamet up to the stage, and it quickly became clear that the only people with allegedly missing tests were her (single!) Hollywood crushes.
“Will Smith, you’re married, but you’re on the list,” Hall quipped. “Looks like Jada approved it!”
The Magic Mike XXL actress, 50, laughed hysterically while her husband, 53, looked slightly embarrassed. “Get on up here,” Hall said, beckoning Will to join her and her would-be suitors on stage. The Oscar nominee, however, made a sheepish face and stayed put.
Smith later apologized.
The Hollywood Reporter:
Smith took the stage for a second time at the 2022 Oscars, but this appearance was under calmer circumstances after winning best actor for King Richard.
The star nabbed his first Academy Award for his role as Richards Williams, father to tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams, in director Reinaldo Marcus Green’s biopic. Smith was previously nominated for best actor twice, for 2001’s Ali and 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness.
As his name was called as the winner, Smith took a beat from his chair to lean his forehead against Jada’s, and they shared a kiss.
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” Smith said from the stage through tears. “In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who is one of the strongest, most delicate people I’ve ever met. I got to protect Saniyya [Sidney] and Demi [Singleton], the two actresses that played Venus and Serena. I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.”
Smith continued, “To do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse. You gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you, and you gotta smile, and you gotta pretend like that’s OK.”
He said that, after the Rock onstage moment, Denzel Washington told him off-camera, “At your highest moment, be careful — that’s when the devil comes for you.”
Smith then told the crowd, “I want to be a vessel for love.” At that moment, ABC aired an Oscars logo in place of the live feed of Smith’s speech. “I just spit — I hope they didn’t see that on TV,” he quipped while still not shown on TV as the camera cut to the real-life Williams family before then returning to Smith.
“I want to apologize to the Academy; I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” Smith shared. “This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine light on all of the people.”
Smith shocked Oscars viewers earlier in the evening when, in a stunning moment of live television, he slapped presenter Chris Rock on stage after the comedian joked about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, sporting a shaved head.
