Will Smith and Chris Rock collectively blew up the internet yesterday when they were involved in a physical altercation on stage during a live stream of the Oscars. While there’s no denying the incident has generated a tonne of publicity for the event, opinions are split on whether it was a publicity stunt or an emotional reaction.
For anyone living under a rock, Chris, erm, Rock, was presenting the winner of the best documentary when he made an offensive jibe about Will Smith’s wife’s, Jada Pinkett Smith, alopecia condition. The comedian quipped that “couldn’t wait” to see the sequel of G.I Jane, seemingly referencing Pinkett Smith’s hair loss.
Moments later, Smith stormed onto the stage and cracked Rock in the face. He then stormed back to his front-row seat and repeatedly screamed “keep my wife’s name out of your mouth” at the comedian.
The event was so shocking that viewers were confused about whether it was a pre-meditated stunt, or if Smith was so offended on behalf of his wife that he spontaneously took it upon himself to smack Rock. However, considering the sensitive nature of the “joke”, it’s widely regarded that the move wasn’t a publicity stunt.
Regardless, there are still throngs of people who think Smith’s actions were, in fact, planned. An Instagram user named mindofedward_ has posted a very interesting analysis of the interaction which suggests Rock knew that a beatdown was coming his way.
The marked up image of the altercation shows that Rock seems to have braced his body in a number of ways that suggested he was expecting a hit.
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The image shows that Rock held eye contact with Smith while bracing himself with his neck tucked in and leaning towards Smith, seemingly gearing himself up to take a blow.
Users in the comments section seem to agree with the notion that the interaction was planned.
“Staged, Oscar’s been tanking for years on end, they needed to do anything to get views and talked about, not to mention Will has never acted out like that before when other joke about his wife” commented one.
Another added: “Fake. They knew their ratings were crap and needed something for people to talk about.”
To add a little more fuel to the theory, immediately after the show Rock confirmed that he wouldn’t be pressing charges, and Smith was pictured partying to the early hours looking carefree and in great spirits.
Furthermore, this year’s Oscars drew in 15.36 million viewers, which is 50% more than last year’s ceremony. Do with that what you will…
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