The Academy Awards condemned “violence of any form” after Will Smith struck Chris Rock in the face for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, at the 94th annual awards show.
“The Academy does not condone violence of any form,” The Academy tweeted. “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 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
The Daily Wire reported:
During a segment at the Oscars, the 57-year-old comedian remarked about how no one was wearing a mask in the theater before he turned his attention to Denzel Washington and praised him for his part in the movie “The Tragedy of MacBeth.” The superstar comedian then spotted Will Smith’s wife in the audicen and cracked a joke about how Jada was going to be in the next “G.I. Jane” movie.
“Jada, I love ya,” Rock said. “G.I. Jane 2 movie, can’t wait to see it.”
Smith then got up from his seat and struck Rock in the face.
“Oh wow, wow. Will Smith just smacked the s*** outta me,” Rock said.
Smith then repeatedly shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!”
“Wow, dude,” Rock replied. “It was a G.I. Jane joke.”
Smith later issued an apology after the attack but did not mention Rock.
“I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to my fellow nominees,” he concluded. “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 a light on all of the people … Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father just like they said … just like they said about Richard Williams. Love will make you do crazy things.”
Notable responses included:
- Conan O’Brien: “Just saw the Will Smith slap. Anyone have a late night show I can borrow just for tomorrow?”
- Clay Travis: “Where is Chris Rock? Is he still back stage? Was kind of hoping he would come out with a folding chair and hit Will Smith during the acceptance speech.”
- Stephen A. Smith: “Total BS by @willsmith . If his night is ruined because of this he deserves it. The man has Denzel & Bradley Cooper trying to calm him down. For what? A joke about his wife in G.I. Joe? Come on! The s*** was embarrassing! A very very bad look! Love Will. But not after this B.S.”
- Maria Shriver: “#WillSmith says he wants to be a vessel for love. Love is not violent. Love is not what was displayed on a global stage tonight.” She continued, “We should never get to a place where we sit and watch a movie star hit someone on global television then, moments later, get a standing ovation while talking about love.”
- Piers Morgan: “It was real. Just seen the uncensored footage. Will Smith hit Chris Rock for cracking a GI Jane joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith (who suffers from alopecia) – then twice screamed ‘keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth’ at him Ugliest moment in Oscars history.”
- Dana White: “FINALLY!!!!! there’s an #Oscars show worth watching. AND @chrisrock has a chin.”
- Rob Reiner: “Will Smith owes Chris Rock a huge apology. There is no excuse for what he did. He’s lucky Chris is not filing assault charges. The excuses he made tonight were bulls***.”