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The slap heard around the world
Will Smith has made shockwaves after appearing to hit Chris Rock at the Oscars, seeming to take offence to a joke made about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
The comedian joked that he was looking forward to seeing Pinkett-Smith star in a sequel to G.I. Jane - the 1997 film starring Demi Moore as a bald Navy SEAL recruit - apparently referring to Pinkett-Smith’s bald head.
Smith stood up from his seat, walked up the stage and slapped Rock before sitting back down.
“Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,” Rock said as Smith walked off.
Smith then yelled back, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth”.
At the commercial break, presenter Daniel Kaluuya hugged Smith and Denzel Washington escorted him to the side of the stage.
The exchange shocked the audience and those watching at home, with many taking to social media to ask whether the punch was real after the Oscars feed was cut.
Some footage circulating online also had been censored in some countries, with the verbal exchange between the two stars removed.
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Just minutes later, Smith went on to win the Award for Best Actor for his performance as Richard Williams in King Richard.
Tearing up during his speech, Smith described Williams - the father to Serena and Venus Williams - as a “fierce defender of his family”.
He said “love makes you do crazy things” before apologising to the Academy and his fellow nominees for his outburst.
Social media was quickly inundated with talk of Smith, Rock and Pinkett-Smith, as well as the surprising reactions from other actors and actresses in the audience, including Nicole Kidman, Beyonce and Black Panther star Lupita Nyong’o.
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One user even turned the shot of Smith striking Rock into a meme, poking fun at how the Oscars were no longer exciting until the incident.
Another compared his slap to the iconic picture of Batman striking Robin from the comic books, writing, “Bruh should I go back and watch the Oscars now. Will Smith slapped the Rock and won an Oscar in one night lol”.
Pinkett-Smith has previously revealed she has struggled with alopecia - the medical term for sudden hair loss - after shaving her head in July last year.
“Now at this point, I can only laugh … y’all know I’ve been struggling with alopecia,” she said in a clip shared to Instagram in December.
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“Just all of a sudden one day,” she says before pointing to a hairless line on her scalp.
“So it just showed up like that. Now, this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So, I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking questions.”
Image: Getty Images
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