Social media was set ablaze last night (March 27) when comedian Chris Rock was on the receiving end of a forceful slap seen around the world by Oscar nominee Will Smith.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Rock “declined to file a police report” following the incident.
While hosting the 94th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, Rock did what most comedians do and used a few audience members to be the butt of his jokes, only in this case, the recipients did not find his comments funny, at all.
“Jada, can’t wait for G.I. Jane 2,” Rock says to Jada Pinkett Smith about the star’s noticeable absence of hair, comparing her to Demi Moore’s character in the 1997 film.
What Rock may or may not have known at the moment, is that the Set It Off’s star’s lack of hair is not a style that the actress rocks by choice — she suffers from alopecia, a disease that causes hair loss.
“A lot of people have been asking why I’ve been wearing turbans. Well, I haven’t talked about it. It’s not easy to talk about, but I am going to talk about it,” the Girl’s Trip actress said on a 2018 episode of her Red Table Talk series.
“I was in the shower one day and had just handfuls of hair in my hands and I was just like, ‘Oh my God, am I going bald?'” she added. “It was one of those times in my life where I was literally shaking in fear. That’s why I cut my hair, and why I continue to cut it,” she continued.
Once the joke is made, Smith can be seen laughing while Pinkett Smith is seen rolling her eyes and looking rather uncomfortable. Perhaps Smith didn’t hear the joke and only laughed because the rest of the room laughed, or maybe it was him seeing his wife’s reaction, but “The Fresh Prince” tapped in to his Philly side real quick.
Smith gets up from his seat, makes his way onto the Oscar stage and delivers an utterly shocking slap to fellow actor Rock.
After taking the hit like a champ, Rock who is reasonably stunned says, “Ow, Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” the audience laughs as most of them probably assume it’s a stunt for ratings.
It’s not until Smith sits back down and yells from his table, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth,” that the mood seems to shift in the room as Smith is visibly emotional.
“Wow dude, it was a G.I. Jane joke,” Rock says, but Smith doubles down and repeats himself, only this time with even more raw emotion.
Rock responds, “I’m going to.”
Smith went on to receive an Academy Award for Best Actor that evening.
The police statement goes on to say, “LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program. The incident involved one individual slapping another. The individual involved has declined to file a police report. If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.”