The 94th Academy Awards on Sunday maintained a buoyant spirit until Will Smith took great offence to a joke by presenter Chris Rock about the best-actor nominee’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
After Rock joked to Smith that he was looking forward to a sequel to G.I. Jane, Smith stood up from his seat near the stage, strode up to Rock and slapped him.
After sitting back down, Smith shouted at Rock to “keep my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth.”
UNCENSORED WILL SMITH FOOTAGE AS SHOWN ON AUSTRALIAN TV pic.twitter.com/NcRfdjWxqe
— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 28, 2022
The moment shocked the Dolby Theatre audience in Los Angeles and viewers at home.
Before that, the show had been running fairly smoothly.
