Yikes. Right? Last night was, in case you hadn’t noticed, the first IRL Academy Awards ceremony since 2020, but despite a number of fabulous firsts, the only thing anyone is talking about is Will Smith making an absolute ass of himself by charging onto the stage and slapping Chris Rock around the face for making an insensitive joke about his lady wife.
Context: Jada Pinkett Smith has publicly spoken about her struggle with alopecia for several years, and made the decision to shave her head last year. Rock’s (not funny) joke was to suggest that she play GI Jane. The gag didn’t land with the Oscars audience, who groaned, and Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes, but nobody was expecting Smith’s slap. Rock was astonished and shaken. Smith yelled “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth” twice, from his seat, amid a shocked silence.
