In a moment that will forever define the 2022 Academy Awards, Will Smith walked onstage after Chris Rock improvised a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and smacked him in the face. While the joke — which poked fun at Jada’s shaved head, after the actress has been vocal about her alopecia diagnosis since 2018 — was in bad taste, fans and attendees at the show alike were absolutely stunned at the hit, which at first seemed improvised, but turned out to be a real-life emotional outburst from Smith.
Further complicating the evening was that Smith won the Oscar for best actor less than an hour later for his work on “King Richard,” and spent much of his speech tearfully justifying his actions to his peers and saying sorry.
“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize 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 said. Smith ended his speech by saying, “I hope the Academy invites me back.”
Needless to say, the outburst drew a flood of reaction on Twitter, from jokes and memes to more somber reminders from the Hollywood community that people shouldn’t assault comedians just because their material doesn’t work. Check out the most notable reactions below, including exclusive celebrity interviews Variety conducted at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, and viral posts from a shocking evening.
Colman Domingo reacts to the moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the #Oscars: “I thought, he’s from West Philly, just like I’m from West Philly. We’re very passionate people.” https://t.co/ulvT7fb0dz pic.twitter.com/xiVK3hfQyk
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
Billy Eichner said he thought he was “dreaming” when Will Smith took the stage and hit Chris Rock: “I thought it was a really great show until it took an odd, unexpected turn” https://t.co/BHK0NQAKnm pic.twitter.com/CAEjOtZykD
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
LaKeith Stanfield reacts to the moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the #Oscars. https://t.co/ulvT7fb0dz pic.twitter.com/Ci4PQuiMFX
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
Minnie Driver reacts to the moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the #Oscars: “It was deeply personal. We were all privy to…emotions running really high. I really hope they will make up later. It’s hard to watch somebody’s pain like that.” https://t.co/ulvT7fb0dz pic.twitter.com/6uROb17zf2
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
Just saw the Will Smith slap. Anyone have a late night show I can borrow just for tomorrow?
— Conan O’Brien (@ConanOBrien) March 28, 2022
So disappointing that Will Smith played Muhammad Ali but he couldn’t even knock out Chris Rock.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) March 28, 2022
Someone in the audience charged the stage Friday night during my opener’s set and attempted to throw the speaker, started taking swings at the people trying to stop her and pushed down a security guard. It’s scary times. So, no, I don’t find someone getting hit on stage amusing.
— Fortune Feimster (@fortunefunny) March 28, 2022
Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a Comedian.
Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 28, 2022
B!tch don’t you ever play with me. LOL • https://t.co/jnbpt4Vpb3 pic.twitter.com/Klb3GEIL3d
— 50cent (@50cent) March 28, 2022
Lol so public assault is the answer to an insensitive joke in 2022??! Good to know. I’ll be doing my next Netflix special over Zoom.
— London Hughes (@TheLondonHughes) March 28, 2022
Violence isn’t ok. Assault is never the answer. Also? This is the 2nd time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the #Oscars stage, & tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather.
— Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) March 28, 2022
Will Smith slapping Chris Rock is straight people’s Adele Dazeem.
— Joel Kim Booster (@ihatejoelkim) March 28, 2022
Every comedian should post a Will Smith joke in solidarity with Chris Rock. I’m not. But every other comedian should.
— the lucas bros (@lucasbros) March 28, 2022
If those cowards hadn’t canceled NBC’s The Slap, maybe we’d know how to process this a bit better
— Emily Heller (@MrEmilyHeller) March 28, 2022
“Keep Paul Walkers name out of your fucking mouth” – Vin Diesel standing over my bloody body at next years Peoples Choice Awards
— adam pally (@adampally) March 28, 2022
By the look of that slap, I guess everybody hates Chris literally! Damn…. 😩 #ChrisRock #WillSmith
— Kandi Burruss (@Kandi) March 28, 2022