The Oscar Academy Awards is an anual awards ceremony of artistic and technical excellence in the film industry, hosted by The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The Oscars is a time for celebrities to sit and enjoy the as the nominations unfold and winners are selected. The Oscar’s is typically always a wonderful show; celebrities get to walk the red carpet, make an appearance, associate with other celebrities, have interviews, then they sit and wait to celebrate their awards or celebrate the wondeful news of others earning a well deserved Oscar award. This year, the award show itself wasn’t the real show as it normally is; this year the star of the Oscars was Will Smith, as he walked onto the stage and slapped Chris Rock, in front of thousands of people and a live stream.

Chris Rock appeared on stage last night at the 94th annual Academy Awards to present the winner of “Documentary Feature”, when he began to make out of hand jokes about Will Smith’s wife. Chris Rock spotted Jada Pinkett-Smith in the audience and mentioned that he is looking forward to Jada’s sequel to G.I. Jane, a 1997 film in which the main character, Jordan O’Niell, played by Demi Moore, has a shaved head. Chris Rock made this highly insensitive joke because Jada Pinkett-Smith has lost a lot of her hair over time, due to having a condition called Alopecia. Chris Rock implied that Pinkett-Smith would fit the role best, considering she wouldnt have to shave her head since she already suffers from hair loss.

Towards the beginning of Chris Rock’s jokes, winner of the 2022 Best Actor award, Will Smith, was shown laughing and showing light emotion to the jokes, but still looking slightly uneasy. That was until he looked over at his wife, Jada Pinkett- Smith, and saw her jaw drop. Will Smith noticed that his wife had taken a large amount of offense. This wasn’t a joke to Jada Pinkett- Smith, as she has suffered from Alopecia for a very long time, and describes it as a “terrifying” condition. Once Will Smith realized how hurt Jada was, he knew there was only one thing to do to stop the negativity towards his wife. Will Smith walked onto the stage where Chris Rock was still standing, and slapped him. Chris Rock shouted “Will Smith just slapped the s— out of me!”, and Will Smith’s rsponse once he got back to his seat was yelling “keep my wife’s name out of your fu—– mouth!” multiple times.

Although violence shouldn’t have been Will’s response to the situation, he though on an impusle and slapped Chris Rock, in front of thousands of people. Luckily, Chris Rock allegedley admitted to being in the wrong and to being insensitve; therefore he decided not to press charges against Will Smith for assault. Rumors were also started that the Smith family settled everything with Chris Rock after the awards show, but no reliable sources have confirmed yet. Both Chris Rock and Will Smith were in the wrong during the incident; hopefully the two actors realize this and truly settle their issues.