For Millennials. By Millennials.
Well, out of all the craziest moments that have happened at the Oscars, this has got to be at the top. Will Smith, the Oscar-Nominated actor (and consequent winner) and husband to Jada Pinkett-Smith, got offended at one of the jokes Chris Rock made about his wife.
Chris had something to say about Jada’s hair (she’s shaved her head because she suffers from alopecia), saying that she was preparing for a role in GI Jane 2. and Will definitely did not appreciate that. It is a sensitive topic for Jada and she was visibly offended.
Related: Twitter Goes Wild After Will Smith Hit Chris Rock on-Stage at the 2022 Oscars
Here’s what happened.
Will Smith laughs at the joke slightly at first but probably notices that Jada isn’t pleased with the joke. Moments after, he runs up to the stage and smacks Chris Rock, and comes back. Then he seems to utter the words,
“KEEP MY WIFE’S NAME OUT OF YOUR F*CKING MOUTH”.
Apparently, Rock continued with the bit and didn’t stop. Probably, a weird attempt to cover up the bizarreness of the event.
Yes, he did Philip DeFranco.
Even Nicole Kidman is shocked. To be fair, the whole world is in shock about the incident.
Diddy attempted to be a peacemaker in the situation
After the Oscars 2022 Livestream ended, P Diddy (whose real name is Sean Combs) addressed the situation on stage and made a promise to resolve matters:
“Will and Chris, we’re going to solve this – but right now we’re moving on with love.”
Will Smith later apologizes for the incident…not to Chris Rock though
“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees.”
After Will Smith hit Chris Rock, he went on stage again to accept his Oscar for ‘Best Actor Role’ for ‘King Edward’. That’s gotta be awkward! And undoubtedly, it was. Smith mentioned his character, Richards Williams, and alluded to how just like him he’s a “fierce defender of his family”.
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family. In this time of my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who is one of the most strongest, most delicate people I’ve ever met. I got to protect Saniyya and Demi, the two actresses who played Venus and Serena.
I’m being called on in my life to love people, and to protect people, and to be a river to my people. And I know that to do what we do you gotta be able to take abuse and you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you in this business. You gotta be able to have people disrespecting you and you gotta smile and act like that’s okay.”
Will Smith in his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards
Will Smith also shared what Denzel Washington told him moments ago:
“‘That’s your highest moment. Be careful, that’s when the Devil comes for you.’ It’s like, I wanna be a vessel for love. I wanna say thank you to Venus and Serena, for entrusting me with your story.”
Will Smith in his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards
Smith further talked about how art has imitated life and how he gets “crazy” when it comes to loving his family”.
“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things. To my mother, this moment is really complicated for me, but to my mother, she didn’t want to come out, she has a knitting crew she’s in in Philly watching this with. I’m taking too much time. Thank you for this honor, thank you for this moment. And I hope the Academy invites me back. Thank you.”
We will definitely have to wait and see if the Academy invites him back. All craziness of the night aside, Will Smith definitely earned the Oscar for Best Role. He put his heart into the role of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams. Richard Williams beat all odds to help push his two daughters to become the best tennis players. Even though they were living in a poverty-stricken neighborhood of Compton, Richards beat all odds and trained his daughters at a very young age to become the Tennis legends we now know.
Related: There’s a petition to stop Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith from doing further interviews