What seemed like a quiet evening at the Oscars, turned out to be one of the greatest moments in television history that doesn’t seem scripted.
At a certain moment, comedian Chris Rock hit the stage to tell a few jokes. He decided to talk about couples such as Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz and then he turned to Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. He mocked the actress and her bald head by asking when the “G.I. Jane sequel was coming out”.
All seemed well until the cameras spotted Will Smith approaching Rock on the stage. Suddenly, he proceeded to smack the comedian and returned to his seat. Rock was floored as the rest of the people were, as he attempted to ask Will to chill but Smith wasn’t having it. Oscars Oscars
“It was only a G.I. Jane joke man”, Rock said. However, Will simply kept repeating: “Keep my wife’s name out of your (SIC) mouth”.
The entire audience at Dolby Theatre was shocked by what they witnessed. After Rock presented the award he got on stage to present, the entire room started talking about what happened. Initially, the first reaction was to see if it was scripted but the moment seemed quite genuine.
Rock was shocked, Will Smith seemed pissed off and Jada Pinkett clearly didn’t like the punchline of the joke. However, some have suggested that there must be more to what happened in one of the most surreal moments in Oscars’ history.
The back story of Jada Pinkett’s hair
According to some reports, what happened is more serious than anybody thought, Will Smith simply decided to stand up for his wife during a difficult moment. The actress has openly discussed a condition that is making her lose her hair. Clearly, Chris Rock didn’t know this and he earned that slap from Will Smith.
“Although comedy should never be scrutinized, some comedians will get a slap from reality every now and then. So many roasts Chris Rock has done over the decades, there is no way he would’ve expected Will Smith to be the one who smacked him for talking too much”, a source said.
Will Smith Apologises
If what happened wasn’t enough, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor and apologized for what everybody just saw. He offered his apologies to the Academy and others for an incident in which he appeared to strike presenter Chris Rock.
He tearfully accepted the award for his role as Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, in the film ‘King Richard’. Smith said Williams “was a fierce defender of his family”.
“I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse and have people talk about you”, Will said. “In this business, you gotta have people disrespecting you. And you gotta smile and pretend that’s ok”.
Smith also talked about being a “protector” and thanked the tennis legends and their family.
Smith shared that prior to his win, fellow nominee, Denzel Washington shared some wisdom with him: “At your highest moment be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you”.
Smith ended by noting that he hopes the Academy welcomes him back.
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