Will Smith hit Chris Rock in the face on stage during the Oscars after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. Referring to Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut, Rock said: “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2.”
Jada has previously opened up about her struggle with hair loss and alopecia. In an episode of her Facebook chat show, Red Table Talk, she said "handfuls of hair" came loose in the shower.
After Rock's comment, Smith walked up on stage and appeared to hit Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your ******* mouth.” Rock appeared shocked and flustered as he tried to resume presenting the best documentary feature category. He said: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
READ MORE: Will Smith incident joins ranks of Oscar scandals and outtakes
Will Smith later won the best actor award for King Richard, the American biographical sports drama film about the father and coach of famed tennis players Venus and Serena Williams. Accepting his best actor Oscar Smith apologised and said: “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family."
He added: “I want to apologise to the Academy, I want to apologise 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.”
He continued: “Art imitates life, I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams, but love will make you do crazy things.”
After paying tribute to his mother and his family he added: “Thank you for this honour, thank you for this moment…I hope the Academy invites me back.”
Back in May 2018, Jada said: "I've been getting a lot of questions about why I've been wearing this turban."
"Well, I've been having issues with hair loss. And it was terrifying when it first started."
"I was just like 'Oh my god am I going bald?' It was one of those times in my life where I was literally shaking with fear," she explained. "That's why I cut my hair and continue to cut it."
Piers Morgan, who been tweeting about the awards ceremony, said: "What just happened between Chris Rock & Will Smith????? That looked real.. "
He had earlier slammed Oscar host Regina Hall for what he called 'lewd sexual joke... double standards".
Co-hosting the 94th Academy Awards with Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, Hall said "Take your masks off... and your clothes" to a group of actors she asked to come get "Covid tested" backstage.
On Twitter, Piers said: "Interesting to see a female celebrity make lewd sexual jokes about male stars and physically grope them on stage. Of course, if a man did that, he’d be immediately cancelled. The double standard is laughable." He later said he was "only offended by the hypocrisy."
