Social Media is ablaze after Chris Rock and Will Smith almost got into fisticuffs during the 94th Oscar Awards on Sunday night. Rock, who was presenting the award for best documentary, made an off-colour gag about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. A few seconds later the former Prince of Bel-Air took to the stage, approached the defenceless presenter, who starred in Grown Ups 2, and slapped him across the face.
“Jada I love you, ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it,” the star of Beverly Hills Ninja quipped.
Pinkett Smith, sitting next to her laughing husband, dismissively rolled her eyes. The crowd didn’t think the gag was funny either, according to our Hollywood bullpen editor Clammy J Byner, who attended the star-studded event as a seat filler.
“Come on, that was a nice one!” rebounded the actor who played Detective Lee Butters in Lethal Weapon 4.
That’s when Smith thundered towards him on stage and slapped Rock across the face.
“Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!” yelled the visibly emotional thespian, who starred in Bad Boys 1 and 2, and the long awaited remake Bad Boys for Life.
“Rock was very professional throughout the whole scene. He just smiled and responded: “Oh, wow,” says Byner.
Alopecia is nothing to joke about
Byner says that Pinkett Smith suffers from the condition of alopecia. “It’s an autoimmune disorder that leads to hair loss and apparently out of control husbands,” chuckled our golden boy reporter.
Although the incident looked to viewers at home like a poorly conceived and executed skit, Byner believes it was real.
“It was the kind of emotion that Smith has never committed to film. If he was acting, it would have been way less believable.”
Censors muted the live footage of the verbal exchange between Rock and Smith. But GWU! has obtained the full raw video footage for our readers.
After the slap heard around the entertainment world, the theatre went silent. But the consummate professional Chris Rock kept the show going, joking: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
The Academy tweeted a short statement stating they do not “condone violence of any form.”
Rock was overheard saying off camera: “It’s fine…..in fact I’m really lucky. I could have joked about Alec Baldwin’s wife.”
He also added: “with a punch like that it’s no wonder he lost when he was nominated for Ali.”
Later, the former SNL alum was heard saying: “The Smith marriage is open to everything except jokes.” Referring to the worst kept secret in Hollywood of Pinkett-Smith’s obsession with younger men.
Will Smith’s Fresh Prince pals weigh in
GWU! reached out to Smith’s long time co-star and friend Alfonso Ribeoro who played Carlton on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air for comment.
“I’m not shocked,” said Ribeoro.“In fact, I can reveal that I actually created the ‘Carlton Dance’ to dodge beatings from Will Smith on set. It has rhythm… and saved my life.”
Will Smith’s mom, furious, has also entered the controversy, saying: “I send him to Bel-Air to keep out of trouble and he pulls this shit? His two Aunt Vivs are fu**ing furious.”
Uncle Phil, played by James Avery, who died in 2013, was not available for comment.
Byner says that despite the media spotlight on Smith and Rock the real drama began ‘after’ the Oscars when Anthony Hopkins and Dame Judi Dench got into a vicious brawl at the Seafood buffet table.
“For the people who think the Smith/Rock incident was something, you’ve never seen two octogenarian Oscar winners fighting over fava beans.”
Later in the evening Smith tearfully (and ironically) accepted the Best Actor Award for his role as Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, in the film King Richard. Smith said Williams “was a fierce defender of his family.” He also apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees for the incident, although did not mention Rock by name.
But Byner isn’t buying it. “They’ve known each other for a long time. In fact, Chris had a walk-on during Season 6 of The Fresh Prince. This has been brewing for a long time.”
“But really, isn’t it a shame that a movie celebrating the stellar athletic achievements of women’s tennis will be forever remembered for a slap and not a racket?”
The 94th Oscars also took a beating in the ratings department, being walloped by, no kidding, GI Jane, which was simultaneously playing on BBC America. What a slap in the face!
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