OSCARS SLAPGATE: The behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded after Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock
The 94th Academy Awards returned to Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 27, with the red carpet teeming with Hollywood's best and finest. This year, Will Smith won the award for Best Lead Actor for his performance in 'King Richard'. Social media users believe Smith deserved the award, however, his achievement was overshadowed as viewers were left stunned after he slapped Chris Rock for cracking a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock was on stage to present the award for Best Documentary Film when he decided to poke fun at Jada's shaved head, which is a result of Jada suffering from an autoimmune disease. When Rock said she could star in "G.I. Jane", Smith stormed onto the stage, slapped Rock in the face, and walked back to his seat. "Keep my wife's name out of your f-----g mouth," he yelled at Rock. Smith, however, later apologized for his shocking act. Jada's shaved head is reportedly a result of alopecia, an illness she is battling.
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Will Smith is facing sharp criticism for his acceptance speech after slapping Chris Rock, in which he did not directly apologize to the comedian. Social media users have slammed him for his "fake, drummed up tears." Page Six said that a Hollywood insider described how Smith’s longtime publicist Meredith O’Sullivan Wasson, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, Oscars producer Will Packer, and Academy president David Rubin later walked into a private room “very quickly…with great seriousness," following the slapping incident.
“There was a sense that something was wrong with Will,” said the insider. “I heard Chris’ manager, Jason Weinberg say, ‘I’ve got to deal with the LAPD now. I have to find out what is going on,’ then he walked out. Everybody was saying, ‘Holy s**t.’ Even the bartenders. The gravitas was not lost on anyone. There were people saying, ‘Oh, my god, poor Chris.’ People were wondering if Chris’s face was red because he was flush or because he was hit.”
A source who knows Chris Rock said that the comedian was “shaken” as he walked off stage and met with members of the LAPD, and producers. “When he got off stage, he was a bit shaken. He was taken into a side room and talked to producers and LAPD. Then he went to the writers’ room and spoke to his guys and left. I mean, these are guys he has worked with for years. No one thought there were any issues with the jokes," the source said. “If anything, Regina Hall’s joke about Will and Jada earlier in the evening (which hinted at their open marriage) was in way worse taste."
Denzel Washington reportedly came over to Smith in the theater and offered some words of wisdom. As Smith revealed in his acceptance speech, “Denzel said to me a few moments ago, he said, ‘At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you’.”
Movie mogul Tyler Perry and actor Bradley Cooper also tried to calm Smith down during the commercial breaks. Nicole Kidman was seen giving him a hug. “He was wiping his eyes of tears, he knew it was not good,” said Hollywood Reporter awards columnist Scott Feinberg on his podcast, “The Town,” talking about the aftermath.
During the commercial break, Will Smith is pulled aside and comforted by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry, who motion for him to brush it off. Will appears to wipe tears from his eyes as he sits back down with Jada, with Denzel comforting Jada and Will’s rep by his side. pic.twitter.com/uDGVnWrSS2
— Scott Feinberg (@ScottFeinberg) March 28, 2022
People soon began to realize that despite the slap, Smith would continue to be present at the ceremony. “Everybody started to realize ‘Oh my God, he’s going to get back up there,’ they did not escort him out,” said Matt Belloni, the former editor of the Hollywood Reporter on the podcast. Music magnate Diddy tried to calm things down on the stage as well. “OK, Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like family at the Gold Party, OK?” referring to the Oscars afterparty. “But right now we are moving on with love. Everybody make some noise!”
"Diddy was minutes from getting on stage when the slap happened. He was trying to stay in the moment and rehearse his script," a backstage industry source said. “He wanted to thank Will Packer and Shayla Cowan for an incredible show, as the first-time black producers, and to thank the hosts. But he wanted to lift up the room, show Will and Chris they are family and bring them back together. He went up to Chris backstage and gave him a hug, they had a private conversation and went to Will in his seat and hugged him too.” Smith’s rep O’Sullivan Wasson was also spotted sitting with him during the commercial breaks, talking to him. It is believed that she helped Smith make changes to his acceptance speech, in which he apologized to the Academy.
Smith was later seen with his family, including kids Trey, 29, Jaden, 23, and Willow, 21, at the Vanity Fair party. He danced to his own hits like “Gettin Jiggy With It." Rock, meanwhile, went to the annual Oscars party hosted by multi-millionaire manager Guy Oseary. Making a joke about the slap, Rock allegedly said backstage, he “just got punched in the face by Muhammad Ali and didn’t get a scratch.”
Smith later took to Instagram to issue an apology directly to Rock, which he did not do during his acceptance speech. “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,” he wrote. “I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”