Will Smith slapped Chris Rock around the face at the Oscars after he made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The comic joked “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2” which was in reference to her shaved head which is caused by hair loss condition alopecia.
Smith calmly walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock and after sitting back down h shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*****g mouth.”
Later in the ceremony, he apologised on stage in his tearful acceptance speech for best actor “I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to my all my fellow nominees,”
Will Smith picked up the first Oscar of his career for playing the role of father to tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams in King Richard.
He shared “Art imitates life, I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
Oscar organisers The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tweeted that they “do not condone violence of any form”.
The joke was referring to the 1997 film GI Jane where Demi Moore played the film with a buzzcut.
After the initial shock Rock processed what just happened and said, “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
The Los Angeles Police Department said the Rock “declined to file a police report” following the incident.
Shortly after the event reports say that a tearful Smith was “pulled aside” by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry.
Denzel offered him some advice saying “at your highest moment, be careful. That’s when the devil comes for you.”
Want to keep up with the latest news? Check out the rest of our articles here and for all things sports click here.
