The slap heard around the world

Actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock and then received an Oscar.

Yes, there were important speeches made. Jessica Chastain spoke about the impact of Covid-19 on isolation and the increase in suicide when she picked up her Best Actress trophy, and there were winner upsets, but nothing was as significant as watching a mega star calmly walk up on stage and slap the awards show host so hard that most members in the audience thought Rock would fall over.

Instead, he straightened up from the blow and said, “Wow, Will Smith just slapped the sh** out of me”, while Smith calmly walked back to his seat.

Once seated Smith yelled: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****ing mouth.”

To which Chris Rock responded: “It was a G.I. Jane joke.”

With the camera focused on Smith, now back next to his wife, he yelled again at full volume: “Keep my wife’s name our of your f****ing mouth.”

Keeping his composure Rock, hands behind his back, responded calmly: “I’m going to, OK?” 

He then finished introducing the Documentary Feature, and left the stage while A-listers sat in horrified silence.

Diddy was up next to introduce the 50th Anniversary of The Godfather and attempted to provide a “move forward” comment: “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve this like family. Right now we’re moving on with love. Everybody make some noise.”

Twenty minutes later Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor. He took to the stage crying and referencing the character he portrayed in King Richard, Richard Williams, father of tennis greats, Serena and Venus. He referred to Richard as a “fierce defender of his family”.

He went on to apologise to the Academy and his fellow nominees, but not to Rock. He acknowledged that Denzel Washington, a fellow nominee in the Best Actor category, had told him: “At your highest moment, be careful. That’s when the devil comes for you.”

The exchange between the two stars apparently happened during the commercial break before the award was announced. Meredith O Sullivan, Smith’s publicist, also spoke to Smith during the commercial break leading up to the Best Actor award, according to Zack Sharf’s Variety. One wonders how much of Smith’s speech was informed by his publicist before he took to the stage.

 Twitter was split between making jokes and expressing horror that a star of Smith’s stature could assault someone in front of millions worldwide, be allowed to return to his seat and continue to watch the show as if nothing had happened. And then, a little while later, get up to receive an Oscar.

Nobody tried to arrest Smith or remove him from the building. Everyone went on as though nothing had happened, but you could feel the reverberations. At the time of filing this story, Rock had stated that he was not going to press charges.

Of course, there is history between the two comedians. In 2016, when Smith boycotted the Oscars for a lack of diversity, Rock joked about it from that year’s Oscar stage where he was the host. He also made a crass joke about Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting the show, saying: “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.”

To make matters worse, Pinkett Smith has alopecia. She has gone public with her condition and, because she is losing her hair, shaves her head as a result.

In G.I. Jane Demi Moore portrays a woman training for a Navy Seal-type special ops unit that required Moore to shave her head. Smith initially laughed at the joke, but when he saw his wife’s face, he stormed the stage and accosted Rock.

Although none could compare to this televised outburst, this year’s Academy Awards had a few other unexpected moments in store. Chastain, against most predictions,  won the Oscar for Best Actress.

Jane Campion won the Best Director award despite making disparaging comments about the Williams sisters at another awards show when she said, “However, you don’t play against the guys, like I have to”, implying that, as a director, she had experienced more sexual discrimination than the Williams sisters had. The Williams sisters have played men in mixed doubles and Venus has campaigned for equal pay for women tennis players.

CODA, the film about the only member of a deaf family who can hear, won Best Picture. CODA also picked up the Best Supporting Actor award for Troy Kotsur, who became the first male deaf actor to win an Oscar.  The film also won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Billie Eilish and Finneas won Best Original Song for No Time To Die. Ariana DeBose of West Side Story became the only openly queer Afro-Latina to win an Oscar. She took the statue for Best Supporting Actress.

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