Photo: Getty Images
Will Smith rushed the Oscar stage and smacked Chris Rock in the face for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith being in “G.I. Jane 2”.... because of her haircut.
The actress shaved her head to deal with alopecia, which causes hair loss.
Chris cracked the joke and had started to move on as Smith approached the stage and slapped him dead in the face.
He attempted to shake it off and keep going as Smith shouted at him from back in the audience, "keep my wife’s name out of your f-cking mouth!”
Rock responded, “Wow dude, it was a G.I. Jane joke", adding “that was the greatest night in the history of television.”
Will Smith’s publicist Meredith O. Sullivan came by him at the commercial break to have a discussion. Also during the break, Denzel Washington got up to speak to Smith privately. Smith revealed during his best actor speech that Washington said to him, “At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.”
Oscars producer Will Packer also visited Will Smith before the best actor category was announced.
Some UPDATES about this:
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Chris Rock declined to file a police report.
A full statement from the Los Angeles Police Department reads: “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.”
Insiders tell us Will MIGHT be asked to hand back his Best Actor award because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has strict guidelines in its code of conduct.
“When you break it down, IT IS basically assault.”
One insider tells us, "Everyone was just so shocked in the room, it was so uncomfortable.”
Fast forward a few hours: Will was spotted trying to brush off the biggest scandal in the Academy Awards' 94-year history, partying hard with his family at the Vanity Fair party while clutching his gold Best Actor gong for his role in 'King Richard'.
He was posing for selfies, hugging and high-fiving his fellow celebs … as he rapped along to his biggest hit songs like "Summertime" and "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It."
And shortly after he stormed on stage to smack Chris Rock, Will added a comment to his own Instagram post, writing: "You can't invite people from Philly or Baltimore nowhere." (It was shared with a picture of him and his wife before the ceremony and was referring to his own birthplace of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his wife's of Baltimore, Maryland.)
Source: Variety, Page Six, TMZ, Daily Mail.
Photo Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images.