It was a slap that was never expected. Although Hollywood star Will Smith later apologised to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and his co-nominees, the resounding slap at the Oscars ceremony on 27th March was and is being seen by millions across the globe as the video of the slapping incident has gone viral. Smith got up from his seat at the grand show on Sunday, walked up the dais and slapped host Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about the hair loss that Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, suffers from.
Chris greeted Smith’s wife, saying, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait.” It was a reference to Jada’s shaved head, caused by a 2018 diagnosis of alopecia, a medical condition which causes severe hair loss. G.I. Jane was a 1997 film in which leading lady Demi Moore famously shaved off her head. Will Smith initially laughed at the joke, like many others in the auditorium, but his wife glowered and rolled her eyes, following which Will went up the stage and slapped Rock in full view of the cameras and millions of fans who were watching the live telecast. Of course, the portion was deleted from the deferred telecast in the US but by then, it had been seen by lakhs of people in more than 100 countries where the Academy Awards are telecast live. On his part, Chris maintained his cool and simply blurted out, “Oh, wow! Will Smith has just smacked the sh*t out of me.” After the smacking incident, Will Smith returned to his seat and used the ‘f’ word twice when he shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
Opinion remained divided about what was worse: Rock joking about a medical condition, or Smith’s public display of anger. Pertinent to note that Smith apologised to the Academy and his co-nominees when he went on to win the Best Actor Award for King William, but he did not apologise to Chris Rock at that time. But he publicly apologised to Chris later. “Love makes you do crazy things,” sobbed Will in his acceptance speech, referring to his admiration for Richard Williams, father of tennis star sisters Venus and Serena Williams’ dad about whom the film is, and admitting, “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father.”