When Chris Rock came out to present the award for best documentary at the Oscars on Sunday night, the evening took a shocking turn. Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, who has recently been wearing her hair in a buzz cut. The actress has been open about her journey with alopecia and hair loss. Rock said he was looking forward to watching her in “G.I. Jane 2.”
The camera then cut to Pinkett Smith and husband Will Smith, who both seemed to laugh. But then things got serious. Smith jumped on stage, walked over to Rock, and hit him in the face. For American viewers, the footage was edited, but footage on Twitter of the unedited broadcast showed what happened next.
“Oh wow,” Rock said. “Wow. Will Smith just smacked the sh*t out of me.” From the audience, Smith yelled, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth.” Rock defended himself, saying, “It was a ‘G.I. Jane’ joke,” and Smith repeated what he said. Rock awkwardly moved on to presenting the award.
Diddy was the next presenter after the commercial break, and he addressed what happened when he got on stage. He said, “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like family. Right now we’re moving on with love. Everybody make some noise.”
Shortly after the altercation, Smith won the Oscar for best actor and apologized to the Academy, his fellow nominees, and the “King Richard” cast and crew. He did not comment on Rock.