Will Smith punches Chris Rock at the Oscars
This year’s Oscars featured shocks, sighs and surprises – but all anyone will care about is a slap. The Academy Awards took place on Sunday night, with films including The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza and Coda battling it out in the big categories.
The biggest story of the night had almost nothing to do with the awards: a shocking altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock sparked by a joke about Smith’s wife Jada. Smith walked up onto the stage and appeared to smack Rock in the face, before shouting at him to not refer to his wife again.
It undoubtedly overshadowed the night as a whole, and notably – just minutes later – Smith’s win of the Best Actor Oscar for King Richard. Through tears, Smith called himself “a vessel of love” and apologised to the Academy. The LAPD confirmed that Rock is not pressing charges. The Academy said it “does not condone violence of any form” and launched a “formal review” into what happened. Hours later, Smith apologised to Rock and said he was “embarrassed”.
Smith was also reportedly asked to leave the Oscars after breaking the Academy’s code of conduct, but he refused.
Following the on-stage incident, celebrities including Alec Baldwin and Adam Sandler have spoken out in support of Rock, whose forthcoming comedy tour has since experienced a huge surge of interest.
On Wednesday, during the sold-out Boston show of his Ego Death tour, Rock finally addressed the altercation between him and Smith.
You can follow all the developments about the “slap that was heard around the world” in our live blog below…
Heckler shouting ‘Will Smith’ escorted out of Chris Rock’s sold-out comedy show
A heckler who interrupted Chris Rock’s first comedy show in Boston since the Oscars slap to shout “Will Smith” was reportedly escorted out by security.
It has also been reported that two hecklers tried separately to interrupt Rock’s performance at Wilbur Theatre, shouting “WIll Smith” during his live set.
These chants were met with louder “boo”s from other audience members, Daily Mail reported.
When it happened again, the heckler was escorted out of the premises by security, prompting Rock to ask: “Is this how this tour is going to go?”
Maanya Sachdeva has the full story:
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 09:10
Summer of Soul producer criticises Chris Rock for ‘white guy’ joke made after Will Smith slap at Oscars
Summer of Soul producer Joseph Patel has criticised Chris Rock for a joke he made while presenting the film with an Oscar.
He wrote on Twitter: “We were in shock walking to the stage not because of winning, but because we, too, were still trying to make sense of what happened.”
While Patel called out Will Smith for slapping Rock, he also expressed anger towards the comedian for claiming Summer of Soul had been made by “Questlove… and four white guys”.
“What I didn’t hear in that moment walking to stage but was told of afterwards is what Chris Rock said when reading our name from the winner’s card,” he tweeted, adding: “WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F***?????”
Patel said that “the reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award”.
He added that he was “the third South Asian to win that night” following Riz Ahmed and Aneil Karia’s victory in the Best Live Action Short category for The Long Goodbye.
Jacob Stolworthy has the full story:
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 08:40
Chris Rock addresses rumours he’s spoken to Will Smith after actor hit him at Oscars
Chris Rock has addressed whether he has spoken to Will Smith in the wake of the actor hitting him at the Oscars.
At his first stand-up show since the incident, Rock referenced the matter. Without mentioning Smith’s name, he said of the fallout on Wednesday (30 March): “I haven’t talked to anyone, despite what you heard.”
Jacob Stolworthy has the full story:
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 08:30
Donald Glover says people ‘are already tired of’ reading about Will Smith-Chris Rock incident
Donald Glover has shared his thoughts about the most-talked moment of Oscars 2022.
When the 38-year-old actor was asked about Will Smith’s Oscars slap on Jimmy Kimmel Live, he said: “Everybody was kinda just, kinda chatting.”
“I think it felt like you were in someone’s living room. And it just kinda happened,” he added. “To me, I don’t even really wanna get into it. It’s like, whatever.
“People are already tired of it. People are like, ‘Dang, I gotta read another article. It’s been eight articles already.’ And also, like, I’ve had a lot of stuff happen to me while I was telling jokes on stage, that kind of thing.”
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 08:20
Academy officials were ‘apoplectic’ after Will Smith ignored their request to leave Oscars after Chris Rock slap
Two sources who were present at the scene told TMZ that David Rubin, the president of the Academy, and CEO Dawn Hudson were “apoplectic” and “furious” at Smith when he refused to leave the venue after slapping Chris Rock.
The sources also said that there was plenty of “yelling” and “heated conversations” backstage with the King Richard actor’s reps after the incident.
Following Sunday’s (27 March) situation, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has now begun “disciplinary proceedings” against Smith.
Leonie Cooper has the full story:
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 08:00
P Diddy says he ‘never confirmed’ Will Smith and Chris Rock had reconciled
P Diddy has clarified that he “never confirmed” that Will Smith and Chris Rock had reconciled after the Oscars 2022 incident.
After Sunday night’s events unfolded, Page Six reported that P Diddy confirmed at the Vanity Fair Oscars party that Rock and Smith had reconciled after the incident.
However, P Diddy has now set the record straight.
“I never confirmed they had reconciled,” he told TMZ, according to Complex. ”I said, ‘As brothers, they will work it out, and let’s move on with love’.”
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 07:50
James Corden accuses Will Smith of not being able to ‘take a joke’
Speaking on his The Late Late Show, Corden directly addressed the controversy from the Oscars where Smith slapped Rock after he made a joke about his wife’s appearance.
“I’ll say this, Will Smith can’t take a joke,” Corden said.
He went on to praise how Rock handled the incident: “Seriously though, I applaud Chris Rock for recovering, keeping the show moving. It was an incredibly dignified response.”
Sam Moore has the full story:
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 07:20
Chris Rock greeted with a long standing ovation at first show after Oscar slap
As soon as Chris Rock appeared at the packed Wilbur Theatre for the opening show of his Ego Death tour, he was greeted with a 2-3 minute-long standing ovation.
“Let me be all misty and s***,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I don’t have a bunch of s*** to say about that, so if you came here for that,” Rock said adding: “I had written a whole show before this weekend.”
“I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s***. It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes,” Rock, who landed in Boston for his first live show after the Will Smith Oscars incident, said on Wednesday (30 March).
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 06:53
What was the joke Chris Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith at the Oscars?
Chris Rock was onstage to present the award for Best Documentary when he made a remark about Pinkett Smith’s appearance.
“Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” he quipped, appearing to refer to Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
GI Jane was a 1997 American drama film starring Demi Moore in a fictional story about the first woman to undergo special operations training, similar to the US Navy Seals. Moore, who won a Golden Raspberry award for Worst Actress for her performance, had a shaved head for the movie.
Roisin O’Connor has the full story:
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 05:20
Chris Rock breaks silence on Will Smith Oscars slap
Chris Rock broke his silence over Will Smith hitting him onstage at the Oscars on Sunday (27 March).
The comedian addressed the altercation on Wednesday night (30 March) at the sold-out Boston show of his Ego Death tour, where he said he was “still processing” what happened last weekend.
After the crowd greeted him with a standing ovation, Rock, 57, said: “Let me be all misty and s***“, with tears in his eyes.
“I don’t have a bunch of s*** to say about that, so if you came here for that…” Rock added, saying: “I had written a whole show before this weekend.”
“I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s***. It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes,” the comedian said.
Maanya Sachdeva has the full story:
Peony Hirwani31 March 2022 04:26
