In a wild, viral moment, so improbable many thought it had to be scripted, Hollywood star Will Smith rushed up to the Oscar stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian cracked a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Minutes later, the 53-year-old actor bagged the best actor Oscar for his role in “King Richard”, making him the cynosure of attention good and bad at the 94th Academy Awards.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) distanced itself from the incident, likely to go down as amongst the most infamous in the Oscar’s 94-year history, saying it does not support “violence of any form”.
Rock, whose first reaction was to come up with another wisecrack, declined to press charges against Smith, according to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department.
“Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me,” Rock, who was on stage to announce the best documentary feature award, said as millions watched the action live on their screens. In his emotional acceptance speech after winning the best actor trophy, Smith referenced the incident and apologised to the Academy for what transpired earlier. However, he didn’t name Rock or apologise to him.
“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees,” he said tearfully.