It was the slap seen around the world, and yet Will Smith will walk away from the 2022 Oscars with an Academy Award trophy and no criminal charges.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department (via Variety), Chris Rock has declined to file a police report against Smith, despite being slapped on stage by the actor.
Prior to announcing the winner for documentary feature, Rock cracked a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, prompting her husband Smith to walk up to Rock and strike him with his open hand.
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The US broadcast quickly cut the sound, but the international feed captured the full interaction. Rock said, “Wow, Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me.” Smith returned to his seat, where he hollered, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!”
“Wow, dude, it was a G.I. Jane joke,” Rock retorted. Smith yelled again, “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth!”
Pinkett Smith announced last year that she had shaved her head after struggling with alopecia. In an Instagram post, she wrote, “Now at this point, I can only laugh… y’all know I’ve been struggling with alopecia. Just all of a sudden, one day…it just showed up like that. Now, this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So, I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking any questions…Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something. Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!”
In a statement following the incident, the LAPD acknowledged that its “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.”
Here’s the uncensored video of Will Smith and Chris Rock’s #Oscars confrontation pic.twitter.com/6gLW1BLo41
— Consequence (@consequence) March 28, 2022
Will Smith didn’t appreciate Chris Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/UcTh88PNPD
— Consequence (@consequence) March 28, 2022
During the commercial break, Will Smith is pulled aside and comforted by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry, who motion for him to brush it off. Will appears to wipe tears from his eyes as he sits back down with Jada, with Denzel comforting Jada and Will’s rep by his side. pic.twitter.com/uDGVnWrSS2
Advertisement— Scott Feinberg (@ScottFeinberg) March 28, 2022
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Tagged: 2022 Academy Awards, Alternative Music, Chris Rock, Film, Legal news, music blog, NEWS, Will Smith