The 2022 Oscars have taken a wild turn with Will Smith storming on stage and smacking Chris Rock in the face before shouting, “keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth”.
The shocking event saw host Chris Rock joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, well-publicised battle with alopecia. Rock quipped that he “couldn’t wait” to see the sequel of G.I Jane, seemingly referencing her hair loss.
While the cameras showed Smith laughing about the joke, Pinkett Smith could be seen in the background rolling her eyes and looking unhappy.
The camera then panned back to Rock and he continued his monologue. Seconds later, Rock pauses to say, “Uh oh” and confused sounds can be heard coming from the crowd.
Smith then walked straight up to the host in the middle of the stage and hit him in the face. Rock was left almost speechless in surpise, and repeated the words “Wow”, as Smith headed back to his seat.
Early reports suggest that showrunners were able to remove audio for most parts of the world, but Australian viewers didn’t have the latter half of the confrontation bleeped out, and were able to hear the entire event clearly.
UNCENSORED WILL SMITH FOOTAGE AS SHOWN ON AUSTRALIAN TV pic.twitter.com/NcRfdjWxqe
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— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 28, 2022
Here’s the moment Chris Rock made a “G.I. Jane 2” joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, prompting Will Smith to punch him and yell, “Leave my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth.” #Oscars pic.twitter.com/kHTZXI6kuL
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
Once back in his seat Smith continued his tirade, yelling “Get my wife’s name out of your mouth” a number of times to a very stunned crowd.
Jada Pinkett first revealed her diagnosis of alopecia in 2018 and chose to shave all of her hair off with the help of her daughter in 2021.
“Now at this point, I can only laugh… y’all know I’ve been struggling with alopecia,” she said when first revealing her condition.
“So, it just showed up like that. Now, this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So, I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking any questions,” she added.
The surprising Oscar’s confrontation has stunned social media, with shocked viewers sharing this dismay on Twitter.
Nicole Kidman reacting to the Chris Rock and Will Smith incident at the #Oscars . A NEW MEME IS BORN.😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/X19AE19OUv
— Mauli Adam (@mauli_adam) March 28, 2022
Everyone at the Oscar’s when Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock on national television #Oscars pic.twitter.com/VX7EzFyJ22
— LORRAKON (@LORRAKON) March 28, 2022
everybody moving past the altercation between chris rock and will smith on live tv #Oscars pic.twitter.com/3GQkt1oJMZ
— RCE (@moreofmaur) March 28, 2022
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