The 94th Annual Academy Awards commenced at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday (March 27). The event was going as planned until Chris Rock joked about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett for her shaved head while presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary. As the camera’s panned for Jada’s reaction, it was clear that she was annoyed, rolling her eyes at Rock's joke. 

Suddenly, Smith is seen rushing the stage towards the famed comedian who says, “Uh oh” before Smith aggressively slaps him across the face.  The sound then cuts out as Smith was filmed shouting at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” 

In the uncensored version aired in Australia and Japan, Rock told Smith it was “just a G.I. Jane” joke and he repeated, “Keep my wife’s name of your fucking mouth!!” Rock replied, “I’m going to” and followed up with, “That was the greatest night in television.”

Twitter reacted to the incident and condemned Will Smith for making a scene and robbing Questlove of his Oscar moment. The Roots’ drummer was awarded for Best Documentary category for the 2021 film Summer of Soul: (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) shortly after the confrontation.

Shortly after the incident, Will Smith publicly apologized for the altercation after he was awarded for his performance in the 2021 sports drama film King Richard, although not addressing Rock in his speech. 

“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people. Tim and Trevor and Zack and Saniyya and Demi and Aunjanue and the entire cast and crew of ‘King Richard,’ Venus and Serena, the entire Williams family. Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams,” Smith said in his tearful acceptance speech.

What do you think about Will Smith and Chris Rock’s Oscar altercation? Stay tuned for more on this and other hip-hop news.