An incredible photo captures the moment Hollywood stars watch Will Smith slap Chris Rock at the Oscars.
The picture, shared by fashion journalist Derek Blasberg, shows a number of A-listers huddled round a mobile phone and watching the chaos unfold at the ceremony.
Meanwhile, this is everybody at my table at the @vanityfair Oscar dinner manically googling wtf Will Smith just said to Chris Rock 🤷🏻♂️🍿 pic.twitter.com/rJBz4LCboW
— Derek Blasberg (@DerekBlasberg) March 28, 2022
The group, including actors Sienna Miller, Oli Green and Sarah Paulson, are seen watching the footage with shocked expressions at a table at the Vanity Fair Oscar’s viewing party. Filmmaker Taika Waititi is seen looking at the camera open-mouthed while Jason Batemen watches on with a smile.
Alongside the image, Blasberg wrote: “Meanwhile, this is everybody at my table at the Vanity Fair Oscar dinner manically googling wtf Will Smith just said to Chris Rock.”
Smith sparked controversy on Sunday night after striking Rock on stage after taking offence at a joke the comedian had made about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s short haircut.
Referring to Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut, Rock said: “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2”, prompting the actress to roll her eyes.
However, Smith walked up on stage and appeared to slap Rock before returning to his seat and shouting twice: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.”
A flustered Rock replied: “Wow dude. It was a GI Jane joke” before he continued presenting the best documentary feature category.
Pinkett Smith has previously spoken about her struggles with alopecia and said it is what prompted her to shave her head.
After being named best actor for his performance as the father of Williams and her sister Venus in King Richard, Smith used his acceptance speech to apologise to the Academy and “all my fellow nominees” – but not Rock.
“I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people,” he added.
Twitter users said the image of the Hollywood stars watching the drama unfold in real-time surpassed Ellen DeGeneres’ famous Oscars selfie in 2014.
Hollywood stars reacted in shock to the incident, with Last Samurai producer Marshall Herskovitz urging the Academy to take disciplinary action against Smith.
A tweet on the official Academy account said: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”
