If you haven’t noticed, Will Smith has swept the internet with “the slap heard around the world”, and across the internet are millions of clips and edits of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on the stage of the Oscars.  At the 2022 Oscars awards ceremony, Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Smith; Will Smith’s wife, triggering Will Smith to walk on stage and slap him on national television.  Many people thought it was a skit, however, when Will Smith apologized for his actions later on in the awards ceremony it became apparent that Will Smith really did assault Chris Rock.  People who once adored Will Smith are now questioning if Will Smith is a good role model, and if he should be condemned for his actions at the Oscars.

At the Oscars

On March 27th of 2022, the 94th Oscars awards ceremony was held with hosts Amy Schumer, Regina Hall, and Wanda Sykes; three amazing women comedians and actresses who did a great job keeping the Oscars light and laughable.  The ceremony was running smoothly with the usual award speeches and corny jokes aimed at top-tier actors until comedian Chris Rock came on stage to give his monologue and announce the winner for Best Documentary.

Chris Rock ended his monologue with a joke about Jada Smith, Will Smith’s wife who has alopecia; a disease that causes hair loss.  Jada had recently shaved her head, due to her hair loss and her journey with alopecia has been very emotional.  In Chris Rock’s joke, he compared Jada Smith to GI Jane, saying, “Jada I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”  At first, Chris Rock had the whole crowd laughing, including Will Smith.  However, after a glance at his unhappy wife, Will Smith’s attitude changed quickly.

The camera cuts back to Chris Rock, who was about to announce the winner for Best Documentary when he suddenly says “Uh oh!” and begins to awkwardly laugh.  The camera cuts to Will Smith, marching up on stage and swinging back, slapping Chris Rock across the face.  The force of Will Smith’s slap is so strong, that you can not only see Chris Rock get pushed backward, but you can also hear the loud thud from Chris Rock’s microphone.  The audio of the broadcast was cut out for the U.S. but viewers in other countries could hear it clearly.

Viewers and celebrities who attended the Oscars thought the whole thing was a planned skit, because of how Will Smith promptly walked back to his seat, and because of Chris Rock’s composed reaction.  After Chris Rock got slapped by Will Smith, he just kept smiling and laughing saying, “Wow. Wow… Will Smith just smacked the — out of me!”.  Chris Rock had the whole crowd laughing again, including when Will Smith said, “Get my wife’s name out your — mouth!”.

Though viewers and celebrity attendees of the Oscars thought the whole thing was a skit when you look back at the clip of Will Smith after slapping Chris Rock you can see the shock and confusion of the people around him, including Lupita Nyong’o who would become subject to some very funny memes.  Will Smith continued to yell “Get my wife’s name out your — mouth!”, and that’s when fans started to realize this wasn’t a joke.

Behind the scenes, Will Smith could be seen taking advice about what to do about the situation from celebrities such as Keith Urban, Ariana DeBose, Daniel Kaluuya, and Denzel Washington, who according to Will Smith told him that “At your highest moment, be careful because that’s when the devil comes for you”.  Minutes later, when Will Smith was accepting the Best Actor Award for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard; a movie about William Richard’s efforts to get his daughters Venus and Serena into tennis history, he apologized for his poor behavior.  Will Smith accepted his award, crying, and apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees, comparing himself to Richard Williams ‘the crazy father’ saying that “Love will make you do crazy things”.

After the awards ceremony, Will Smith could be seen partying it up at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, tear-free.

After the Oscars

A few weeks after the events at the Oscars, the board of the Oscars decided to ban Will Smith from the Oscars ceremonies for the next 10 years. “The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards,” said AMPAS president David Rubin.   Will Smith took the board’s decision well, saying “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision,” in a statement.  Keep in mind that Will Smith is only banned from the Oscars ceremony and can still receive Oscars nominations and awards.

Along with being banned from the Oscar ceremonies, Will Smith is getting social consequences for his actions.  Many projects including Will Smith are getting put on hold, including Bad Boys 4 and Emancipation.

Chris Rock has chosen not to press charges and sums up the whole fiasco well, “The greatest night in the history of television”.