It’s not very often you see a celebrity hit another celebrity at an award ceremony. The 2022 Oscars went out with a huge bang and left everyone more than shocked. 

During the ceremony Chris Rock was on stage about to announce who was receiving the next award. He then proceeded to say a joke about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.” 

This joke was made because of her hair being all shaved off. It didn’t sit well with the family because Jada has alopecia and shaved her head. 

At first, Will laughed at the joke and Jada seemed very unamused by it. Shortly after, Will got up on stage and walked right to Chris and slapped him across the face. Everyone thought it was a skit until he sat down and continuously yelled at Chris to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth. 

It left Chris in complete shock and he was unsure of what to even say. He announced the nominees and who won, and then he got off of the stage. It was said by the academy that they asked Will to leave, but he said no. 

Not even an hour later Will went back on stage because he won best actor for the new film King Richard. He gave a whole speech about protecting family and started to break down into tears. Later on in the night videos were posted of him at Vanity Fair’s afterparty happily dancing and singing. 

Chris Rock decided to not press charges against Will, but he still can’t comprehend what happened. Less than a week later at Chris’ standup show in Boston he said, “I’m still kind of processing what happened.” He made a couple jokes about the situation, but wouldn’t actually talk about it because he had already prepared the whole show before it happened. 

The aftermath for Will Smith has resulted in negative publicity and consequences for his actions. He resigned from being a member of the Academy. He said it was to, “put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film.” He has been handling it pretty well and calmly and also announced, “I will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate.”

As of right now Will Smith and Chris Rock have not spoken since the Oscars. It is unclear how this will unfold between the two celebrities. It will just take time to see if they ever rekindle their friendship.