The 94th Annual Academy Awards surely took quite the wild turn last night.
During the award show, Chris Rock was presenting an award when he made a joke about Will Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. After the joke was made about a sequel to "G.I Jane," making fun of Pinkett Smith's bald head, Smith walked toward Rock and slapped him, before returning to his seat.
He then began yelling at Rock, although the Oscars live stream muted it. Smith said, "Keep my wife's name out of your f**king mouth."
I was watching this live. I still refuse to believe this was realpic.twitter.com/FvwBnlAbWh— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy) 1648435244
Pinkett Smith has been open about her struggle with alopecia, which causes hair loss.
The Dolby Theatre was shocked, and so was Rock, as he appeared to regain his train of thought.
Smith had previously bragged on an Instagram video about plans to bring "chaos" and be "everyone's problem" at the Oscars shortly before the incident and then joked afterward that you "can't invite people from Philly or Baltimore nowhere."
Following the incident, Smith took home the Best Actor Award for his performance in "King Richard." While giving his acceptance speech, Smith was in tears.
Hours later, the Academy took to social media to address the incident.
The Academy does not condone violence of any form.\n\nTonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.— The Academy (@The Academy) 1648444232
The award show moment, which left viewers stunned, instantly went viral online, even leading some to speculate that it had been planned.
However, amid speculation, Variety's executive editor Ramin Setoodeh tweeted,
"Someone who works for the Oscars told me that Chris Rock was not interrupted by Will Smith at rehearsals yesterday. It was not supposed to happen. It was real."
Someone who works for the Oscars told me that Chris Rock was not interrupted by Will Smith at rehearsals yesterday. It was not supposed to happen. It was real. #Oscars— Ramin Setoodeh (@Ramin Setoodeh) 1648435804
Rock has yet to address the incident publicly.