Will Smith hits Chris Rock on stage, then wins an Oscar 2022

It was the bombshell moment of the Oscars. Not feelgood best picture winner Coda, or historic wins for the Afro-Latina actor Ariana DeBose or deaf actor Troy Kotsur, or the Academy hiring not one but three hosts – Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall – for the first time since 2018. No, by far the most talked-about moment of the 94th annual Academy Awards was when the best actor winner, Will Smith, took offense to a joke by presenter Chris Rock and slapped him onstage.

Rock had joked about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, as being ready for “GI Jane 2” – seemingly a reference to her shaved head. (Pinkett-Smith has been open about having alopecia, which causes hair loss.) Smith then walked to the stage, slapped Rock, and sat back down, before shouting “keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth” twice.

Reactions online, of course, ranged from delighted memes to concern. Some supported Smith, including the actor’s 23-year-old son Jaden Smith, who wrote on Twitter minutes after the ceremony: “And That’s How We Do It.”