Diddy told Page Six that Will Smith and Chris Rock settled their feud after an altercation at the 94th Academy Awards. Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head while presenting the documentary feature category (the comedian said he could not wait to see Pinkett Smith star in “G.I. Jane 2,” a reference to the 1997 film where Demi Moore appears with a shaved head), which resulted in Smith taking to the stage to slap Rock. Smith returned to his seat and yelled at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!”
“That’s not a problem,” Diddy told Page Six, referencing Smith and Rock’s feud. “That’s over. I can confirm that. It’s all love. They’re brothers.”
Diddy was the presenter who appeared on the Oscar telecast right after the altercation between Smith and Rock. Diddy took the stage to introduce the Oscars’ celebration of the 50th anniversary of “The Godfather” and addressed the situation that had just played out.
“Will and Chris, we’re going to solve this like family,” Diddy said on stage. “Right now we’re moving on with love. Everybody make some noise.”
TMZ spoke to an alleged close friend of Rock’s who said the comedian was unaware that Pinkett Smith had alopecia. The source also said that Rock and Smith had not settled their feud and that there has been no communication between them.
Smith was spotted after the ceremony at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party dancing with his Oscar statue in hand. Smith was given the Academy Award for best actor thanks to his performance in “King Richard.” As reported by Variety: “The DJ played a medley of Smith’s biggest ’90s hits while the actor sang along to ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It’ and ‘Miami.’ He shimmied in the middle of a mosh pit of his fans at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, swinging his gold statue in the air.”
Variety‘s senior culture and events editor Marc Malkin asked Will Smith how he was doing after the slap and his Oscar win, to which the actor replied, “It’s all love.”
During his best actor acceptance speech, Smith apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees for his behavior. Smith did not apologize to Rock during the speech. The Academy issued its own statement following the ceremony in which it said it “does not condone violence of any form.”