Just when you thought the Academy Awards were boring, Will Smith got up out of his seat during the ceremony on Sunday night to smack Chris Rock right across the face on stage.
After the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, which is a result of her suffering from the medical condition alopecia, Smith got out of his seat faster than Maddy in Euphoria to take to the stage and slap Rock for speaking about his wife.
Though at first, viewers thought the whole thing was a staged comedic bit due to the unbelievability of it all, it was soon clear the moment was unplanned and unexpected. Nicole Kidman’s face says it all:
Though he addressed his actions later in the night while accepting his Oscar, Smith apologised to everyone except Rock. Now, almost 24 hours later, Smith has released a public apology for the incident, saying violence in all its forms is “poisonous and destructive.” In a statement released to Instagram, the actor wrote that his actions were “unacceptable and inexcusable.” He then went to address Rock directly, apologising to him and saying that the physical attack was “out of line”, “wrong” and not “indicative of the man I want to be.”
“My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” he wrote. “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.”
“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be,” he continued. “There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
Smith’s statement comes after The Hollywood Reporter reported the Academy Awards’ Board of Governors is looking into the incident and a meeting was scheduled for Wednesday to discuss further action.
“The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show. We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law,” reads a statement issued on Monday morning.
Though there were rumours the Oscar Smith won during the night — the first he’s won in his career — might be rescinded, Whoopi Goldberg, who serves on the Board of Governors explained on The View she doesn’t think that will happen. “We’re not going to take that Oscar from him. There will be consequences I’m sure, but I don’t think that’s what they’ll do,” she said.
Pinkett-Smith previously shared about her hair loss on her show Red Table Talk saying, “So, it just showed up like that and 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 are not asking any questions. But you know mama’s going to put some rhinestones in there. I’m going to make me a little crown. That’s what mama’s going to do.”
Others have noted online, this isn’t the first time Pinkett-Smith has been the butt of one of Rock’s jokes, either, which might explain Smith’s quick temper. In 2016, he spoke about Pinkett-Smith boycotting the awards show because of its lack of diversity, saying, “Jada got mad, said she’s not coming,” he said. “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.”
