Will Smith and Chris Rock is an interesting topic to discuss on. The comedian, Chris Rock cracked a joke and Will Smith overreacted and slapped him in response to that which got all the eyeballs at the Oscar 2022.
The Academy tried pretty much everything to increase its viewing rate to watch the 2022 Oscar. Out of all the approaches used to enhance ratings, Chris Rock and Will Smith’s slap incident got all the cream at the event.
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How does the incident roll around?
Before the commencement of the Oscar ceremony, it has been anticipated that Will Smith will win his Oscar award for his tremendous role in King Richard. But the shocking part was that he got the highlight for an entirely different reason.
It’s no surprise that crazy things happen at award ceremonies.
During the MTV Awards show, when Taylor swift was giving her acceptance speech and Kanye stormed over the stage unannounced which causes quite chaos.
There’s nothing more absurd happened than Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on the face, and the clip went viral like wildfire.
People viewed the clip a million times in just a few hours.
Celebrities gave their opinions at the after-party to lighten up the scenario, Revel Wilson voiced out rather jokingly,
“I think it brings new meaning to the term punchline,” and further added, “I’m lucky I got through the Baftas unscathed.”
While hosting the Baftas Film Awards in London, she cracked a joke on Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s open relationship status,
“Will Smith won for King Richard, but I thought his best performance over the past year was being OK with all his wife’s boyfriends,” to which the audience was surprised response, she further added to lighten up the thick environment by saying,
“What? Come on, he didn’t show up.”
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s relationship
The couple has been tied in the knot for the last 24 years and has declared publicly their extra-marital relationship status.
The couple has discussed Jada’s short-termed fling with singer, August Alsina in a talk show, Red Table Talk in an episode of 2020, she admitted her affair by saying,
“I got into a different kind of entanglement with August,”
Will questioned with raised eyebrows, “An entanglement?”
To which she responded again by saying, “A relationship.”
However, they were liked by their fans for the honest and straightforward response they give about their relationship status but still targeted for ambiguity.
Regardless of their extra-marital affairs, and unsteady romanticism, they still haven’t divorced and are quite committed to each other.
Will Smith’s affection for his wife explains why he got provoked when someone commented on his wife.
Will has also quite firmly said there has never been infidelity in his marriage with Jada Pinkett Smith.
He further added,
“Jada and I talk about everything. We have never surprised one another with anything ever.”
Upon speculation of Will’s statement, it has been cleared that he said that quite diplomatically as to an outsider, it may seem they had been infidel to each other, but he stated that being in a relationship with someone outside marriage doesn’t seem cheating to either of them.
He further added,
Why air all of this in public? “I have decided that chatter about my life can be of benefit to people,”.
But Rock didn’t mock their relationship but Jada’s appearance. Chris Rock cracked a joke on her for the second time, first time was when he hosted the academy awards in the #OscarsSoWhite scandal, which she immediately left.
But he jokingly voiced his opinion about her early leave, “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited!”
At that moment, the incident happened rather unhistorically.
But this time at the repeat of his mockery of Jada’s appearance, he had to face the consequences because her husband was there.
He said, ‘Jada, I love ya’, furthermore added, “GI Jane 2, I can’t wait to see it!”
He cited 1997 US was drama G1, where the character shaved her head to be in the Navy Seal training.
Rock might have no idea that Jada has alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.
Jada didn’t take the joke well, she rolled her eyes, but her husband took vengeance in the next instant by smacking Rock on stage.
That must be impulsive on Will’s part but still caused quite a chaos on social media.
Celebrities’ opinions concerning the incident
Rock’s joke wasn’t considered offensive by several other celebrities. Ricky Gervais, host of Golden Globes commented rather brutally.
Wilson Smith further added to his defense by saying,
“I think a comedian’s job to walk that line about what is acceptable about comedy,”
Judd Apatow, a director also tweeted while defending Rock,
“He could have killed him. That’s pure out-of-control rage and violence. They’ve heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshmen in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind.”
The host of that Oscars Award tried to ease the tension by commenting, “Did I miss something? It feels like the vibe has changed.
Although it was assumed that it was all planned but it wasn’t, which was cleared when Will came back to his seat and shouted,
“keep my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth”.
The swearing was cut by the broadcast network.
It camouflaged the rest of the evening for other shining stars, Billie Eilish, Jane Campion, Jessica Chastain, and many others.
Will got the best actor award at the end of the ceremony where he tried to defend his aggressive behavior and apologized to everyone except Rock.
He linked his reel character with his behavior by stating,
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” he further added,
“Now I know, to do what we do, you’ve got to be able to take abuse,” he accepted this fact and continued, “You got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you’ve got to be able to have people disrespecting you, and you’ve got to smile and you’ve got to pretend like that’s OK.
He further mentioned his fellow nominee’s advice,
“Denzel said to me a few minutes ago, he said, ‘At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.’”
His apology was,
“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” he said. “I hope the Academy invites me back.”
He faced severe backlash after his violent behavior, and the public had yet to decide his reputation and career future.
Wilson Smith’s apology to Chris Rock
Will released a video of him apologizing to Chris Rock for his harsh behavior to which he replied,
“[expletive] your hostage video,” Rock replied during a weekend gig at London’s O2 Arena, according to Deadline reports.
In July, when Smith broadcasted his apology video. He said,
“So, I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you,” Smith added. “My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
“There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave at that moment,” Smith further spoke. “There’s no part of me that thinks that is the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insult.”
Rock didn’t just accept his apology but tried to defend his joke.
According to Guardian, Dave Chappelle asked Rock after the slapping incident, “Did that shit hurt?”
To which Rock responded by saying,
“Goddam right … the [expletive] hit me over a [expletive] joke – the nicest joke I ever told.”
The Academy banned Will Smith from the Oscars for 10 years.
FAQs on Will Smith and Chris Rock
Who are Will Smith and Chris Rock?
They are actors and have starred in several movies and projects. Chris is a comedian as well and faced quite some repercussions for cracking a joke at the Oscars Award.
Do Will Smith and Chris Rock have projects together?
Yes, they have made their appearance in several movies together.
Who is Will Smith’s wife?
Jada Pinkett Smith is his wife.
Why Will Smith is banned from the Academy?
Because of his violent and unacceptable behavior at the Oscars awards, where he slapped Chris Rock out of rage for disrespecting his wife.
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