[imagesource: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times]

It’s this sort of behaviour that got him sent to Bel-Air in the first place.

Jokes aside, the 94th Academy Awards (or Oscars) will be remembered for the moment Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face while the latter was presenting the Best Documentary Feature award.

You may recall that My Octopus Teacher claimed that honour last year. I’m still stoked.

So what led to the slap? Rock cracked a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, referencing the movie G.I. Jane,  and it’s obvious she didn’t find it amusing.

Pinkett Smith has spoken about having the hair loss condition alopecia, calling a moment in the shower when “handfuls of hair” came loose “one of those times in my life where I was literally shaking with fear”.

It isn’t the first joke Rock has made about Pinkett Smith at the Oscars. In 2016, after she boycotted the ceremony due to a lack of diversity in the nominations, Rock joked that “Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties – I wasn’t invited!”

This time, Smith stood up, waltzed on stage, and whacked Rock across the face.

Here’s what viewers across the US saw:

Here’s the moment Chris Rock made a “G.I. Jane 2” joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, prompting Will Smith to punch him and yell, “Leave my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth.” #Oscars pic.twitter.com/kHTZXI6kuL

— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022

The same moment, with the uncensored language, from YouTube:

Chris Rock doesn’t touch his face, even once, after the slap. Remember, Will Smith played Muhammad Ali.

The slap was so unexpected, and so outrageous, that everyone was asking the same thing.

Was this real?

We reckon it was, and we’re clearly not alone. This from the BBC:

At first, it had seemed like a joke or some kind of set-up. Smith even appeared to laugh at first after Rock delivered his line about his wife looking like G.I. Jane.

Jada looked annoyed, but at this point it was still assumed this was all part of some kind of pre-planned routine.

Doubt began to creep in when Smith rose from his seat and hit Rock on the stage. Of course, both these guys are veterans of film and television, and would know how to carry out a fake stage slap. Except, everyone was starting to think, it didn’t look that fake.

By the time Smith was sitting back in his seat and shouting to Rock to “keep my wife’s name out your [expletive] mouth,” it was clear this was no sketch. A professional like Smith would know better than to drop the F-bomb on stage during a live TV broadcast.

Viewers at home didn’t hear the swearing. Broadcast network ABC had cut the live feed to avoid offending viewers at home.

In addition, in the next commercial break, a number of actors went to console Smith.

If it was an act, there would likely have been some smiles and laughter but that was not the case:

During the commercial break, Will Smith is pulled aside and comforted by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry, who motion for him to brush it off. Will appears to wipe tears from his eyes as he sits back down with Jada, with Denzel comforting Jada and Will’s rep by his side. pic.twitter.com/uDGVnWrSS2

— Scott Feinberg (@ScottFeinberg) March 28, 2022

Sean Combs said the pair would sort it out ‘like family’ at a later stage:

Sean Combs addresses that wild Will Smith and Chris Rock moment at the #Oscars: “Will and Chris, we’re gonna solve that like family at the Gold Party.” pic.twitter.com/5r6WHHBdeE

— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022

Not too long after the incident, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena, in the movie King Richard.

He gave an emotional speech but stopped short of apologising to Rock:

Will Smith’s full speech at the #Oscars pic.twitter.com/aHOducBBsq

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 28, 2022

Following the end of the show, the Academy sent out a tweet that didn’t reference the slap directly but is clearly in response to it:

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.

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022

After the show wrapped, there was speculation over whether or not law enforcement would get involved.

According to Variety, “the Los Angeles Police Department confirms… that Chris Rock has “declined to file a police report” following an altercation with Will Smith”:

A full statement from the Los Angeles Police Department reads: “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.”

Page Six reports that the pair plan to work things out away from the cameras:

Page Six has exclusively learned that Will Smith and Chris Rock are expected to work out their issues after the now-infamous slap at an event after the awards show.

Both are expected to attend the annual Vanity Fair Oscars bash, but it’s unclear if they’ll make amends before or during that soirée. But party sources tell us that moments after Smith “smacked the s–t” out of Rock, security immediately started strategizing because Smith had 20-plus attendees in his party.

This will no doubt be covered in great detail, 24/7, for the next few days and weeks.

So yeah, we’ll see how this one ends but for now, it appears to have been very much not a staged slap.

On our side, for now, it ends with a joke:

Chris Rock when he saw Will Smith get out of his seat after telling the joke about his wife pic.twitter.com/9giFog6vLU

— Mr. 🅿️asquale (@TheMrPasquale) March 28, 2022

[sources:bbc&variety&pagesix]