Will Smith beats Chris Rock on stage
Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband Will Smith
Those: dpa / Chris Pizzello
US actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars after he joked about Smith’s wife. The audience at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles was shocked by the altercation. A few minutes later, Smith received the Oscar for best actor.
Et could be a memorable moment in the history of the Oscars: US actor Will Smith slapped laudator Chris Rock after he made a lousy joke about Smith’s wife.
Earlier, comedian Rock reached out to Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and quipped, “GI Jane 2 – I can’t wait to see this.” – a nod to the movie GI Jane, in which Demi Moore stars as a soldier head shaved. Will Smith laughed at first, then got up from his seat.
He then returned to his seat and yelled twice loudly in Rock’s direction: “Keep my wife’s name out of your damn mouth!” – twice using the word “fucking”, which was frowned upon on US television and included in the US broadcast was drowned out by a beep.
Chris Rock (l.) and the angry Will Smith
Those: dpa / Chris Pizzello
The audience at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles was shocked by the altercation. Actor Bradley Cooper hugged Smith.
Bradley Cooper and Will Smith after the incident
Those: AP / Chris Pizzello
Support: Sean Combs (left) and Tyler Perry with Will Smith
Those: AP / Chris Pizzello
The background is that Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, a rare autoimmune disease that leads to hair loss.
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Rock seemed surprised after the incident, but quickly recovered and quipped, “That was the greatest night in television history.” But whether it was an actual outburst by Will Smith or a planned scene was initially completely unclear.
Oscar for best actor half an hour later
Shortly thereafter, Smith received the Oscar for best actor for the film “King Richard”. Will Smith’s acceptance speech turned out to be one of the most confused, unrehearsed, and touching in Oscar history. “I have to protect people,” he says (the actress who plays his wife in the film and the two young actresses playing the Williams sisters) – and of course this also means his wife Jada, whom he was defending half an hour earlier.
What: REUTERS
He spoke, relatively openly, about the humiliations he suffered in Hollywood. “I want to be an ambassador for love…I want to apologize to the Academy and all the other nominees…Love makes you do crazy things.”