Oscars 2022: Will Smith punches Chris Rock live

Hollywood is a strange machine: you never know when to play and when it is serious. The most striking case took place on the stage of the Dolby Theater during the 94th Oscars ceremony, when Chris Rock, who went up to award the best documentary of the year, allowed himself a few jokes about the audience present in the parterre, focusing mainly on the Bardem-Cruz and Smith-Pinkett couples. After joking with the former, explaining that, being both nominated, one could not go home without the other winning as well, the focus has shifted to Will Smith and his wife Jade Pinkett Smithto which Rock allowed himself a joke, saying that the actress looks like “GI Jane,” in reference to her shaved head.

A joke that, however, must not have been liked by Will Smith, who decided to get up from his chair, head to the stage and punch Rock. Once back in his place, Will Smith yelled: “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth”. A phrase that resonated throughout the theater and that put Rock in trouble, who had a moment of hesitation before picking up the thread and announcing that Summer of Soul won the Oscar for best documentary.

While some were convinced that it was a prepared gag, it seems certain that it was a moment of sheer madness on the part of the actor, awarded shortly after with the Oscar for the film. A winning family – King Richard. The reason is simple: Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, and it is evident that Chris Rock, unwittingly, must have touched a nerve for the couple, to the point of prompting Will Smith to intervene, certainly not doing himself honor. Variety says Will Smith publicist Meredith O. Sullivan approached the actor at the first commercial break to figure out what had happened. It is the first time that such a thing has happened at the Oscar and, of course, the altercation will not end there.