Social media and news outlets were filled with shocking reactions to the viral video of Hollywood decorated actor Will Smith walking up the stage at the 94th Oscars and slapping popular comedian Chris Rock in the face following a joke made about his wife Jada Smith.
The on-stage altercation traveled around the world in seconds as Smith’s short temper would come to define the entire 2022 ceremony.
“Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it, all right?” Chris joked on stage about Jada Pinkett Smith. “That was a nice one, OK?” Jada looked cross about the joke, rolling her eyes.
We all know what Will did next, and after the assault on the comedian on stage, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as he’s fondly called for his lead role on the 90s Tv series returned to take his seat. He shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth!”
At first glance, anyone seeing the clip would conclude it was produced as a publicity stunt for current projects.
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According to Deadline, Warner Bros. is preparing to reboot the ‘I Am Legend’ franchise, bringing back not only original star Will Smith but also Black Panther actor Michael B. Jordan in what will be the duo’s first major film together as stars and producers.
I Am Legend, which starred Smith in a nearly desolate post-apocalyptic New York City amidst zombies, debuted at $77.2 million in the United States in early December and went on to collect $256.4 million domestically and $585.4 million internationally.
Smith and Jordan’s films have grossed a combined total of $12.3 billion worldwide, which is an incredible feat.
More can be said about why the altercation occurred, even though Rock and Smith have never had to execute a public phony stunt to sell a project.
This joke was a reference to Demi Moore’s role as Jordan O’Neil, the first woman to attend Navy Seal training, in the 1997 US military movie GI Jane, the role that saw Moore shave her head.
Chris Rock was making fun of Jada’s shaved head by insinuating that she would appear in a sequel. He may not have recognized that Jada suffers from alopecia, an auto-immune disease that causes hair loss.
It wasn’t the first time he’d cracked a joke about her. Rock hosted the Academy Awards in 2016, the year of the #OscarsSoWhite scandal, which resulted in Jada’s boycott of the event.
However, as Rock pointed out amusingly (and correctly): “Jada’s boycotting of the Oscars is similar to me boycotting of Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited!”
He mocked her again six years later. This time, though, she was present to hear it. And, unfortunately for Rock, her husband, Will, was as well.
Smith ended up winning the Best Actor Oscar for playing Richard Williams in the movie King Richard and used his speech to apologize for the incident.
“I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” Smith said while breaking down. “This is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying for winning an award, it’s not about winning an award for me.”
