The most infamous moment from last night’s Oscars was—as the whole world now knows—when Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock.
The shocking moment came after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia. Rock said Jada was waiting for “GI Jane 2” (the movie in which Demi Moore sported a crew cut).
At first, Will Smith laughed, but wife Jada looked unimpressed. Moments later, Will Smith strode up to the stage and forcibly slapped Rock.
He then returned to his seat and shouted at Rock to, “keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth!”
How about we take this to the next level?
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Within the hour, Will Smith had won Best Actor for his role in King Richard. He gave a tearful acceptance speech, apologizing to the Academy for his actions.
Several LGBTQ celebrities have responded to the moment. Variety’s Marc Malkin caught up with some of them at the ceremony, including Colman Domingo.
Colman Domingo reacts to the moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the #Oscars: “I thought, he’s from West Philly, just like I’m from West Philly. We’re very passionate people.” https://t.co/ulvT7fb0dz pic.twitter.com/xiVK3hfQyk
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
Billy Eichner described it as a “very surreal, very strange” moment.
Billy Eichner said he thought he was “dreaming” when Will Smith took the stage and hit Chris Rock: “I thought it was a really great show until it took an odd, unexpected turn” https://t.co/BHK0NQAKnm pic.twitter.com/CAEjOtZykD
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
Related: Billy Eichner casts LGBTQ actors in all the main roles for his new studio rom-com
Mj Rodriguez said, “Sometimes human emotions happen. Sometimes human interactions happen. We can’t judge people based on their moments.”
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez reacts to Will Smith hitting Chris Rock at Oscars: “Sometimes human emotions happen. Sometimes human interactions happen. We can’t judge people based on their moments” https://t.co/tGxomF4J6v pic.twitter.com/byE0y4cwYM
— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022
Comedian Joel Kim Booster compared it to John Travolta infamously mispronouncing Idina Menzel’s name at the Oscars in 2014.
Will Smith slapping Chris Rock is straight people’s Adele Dazeem.
— Joel Kim Booster (@ihatejoelkim) March 28, 2022
Sandra Bernhard also looked back at other Oscar gaffes.
Lil Nas X was as shocked as everyone else.
omg was that real
— MONTERO (@LilNasX) March 28, 2022
Randy Rainbow feared for other presenters.
KEEP WILL SMITH THE FUCK AWAY FROM LIZA
— Randy Rainbow (@RandyRainbow) March 28, 2022
Leslie Jordan was scandalized.
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George Takei, without naming anyone, reminded folk that celebrities have a responsibility to be good role models.
Many people, especially kids, look up to actors. Because of that, we have an obligation to try to be good role models. With celebrity comes responsibility.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 28, 2022
LGBTQ ally Kathy Griffin went viral with a tweet slamming Will Smith: “Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a Comedian. Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.”
Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a Comedian.
Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 28, 2022
Related: Ariana DeBose, Mitch McConnell and The Power of the Dog: The queerest Oscar moments
The Will Smith-Chris Rock altercation dominated headlines around this year’s Oscars, overshadowing many queer moments. In case you missed them, let’s not forget hosts Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall making a joke about Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.
“We´re going to have a great night tonight,” said Sykes. “And for you people in Florida, we´re going to have a gay night.” Co-hosts Schumer and Hall then said “gay” multiple times.
‘This year, the Academy hired three women to host because it’s cheaper than hiring one man’ — The Oscars’ opening monologue covered toxic masculinity, Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill and more. Here are the best moments 🍿 pic.twitter.com/MtK9waaLLF
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 28, 2022
West Side Story star Ariana DeBose became the first out, LGBTQ woman of color to win an acting Oscar. In her acceptance speech, she told anyone who had ever questioned their identity to never forget, “there is a place for us.”
“So to anybody who has ever questioned your identity [. . . ] or you find yourself living in the grey spaces, I promise you this — there is indeed a place for us.” #Oscars pic.twitter.com/45aORd2Gkk
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) March 28, 2022
Jessica Chastain won ‘Best Lead Actress’ for The Eyes of Tammy Faye and also acknowledged anti-LGBTQ legislation being passed in some states at the moment.
Jessica Chastain accepts @TheAcademy for Best Actress for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” with a nod to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation sweeping the country.#Oscars pic.twitter.com/Vyb7GRNHNJ
— Tony • GMA (@THETonyMorrison) March 28, 2022
Finally, Elliot Page was one of many looking super-dapper at the event.
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Mister P
Will did not show class worthy of an honor.
MarcyMayer
I like Chris Rock, but his joke was insensitive. Alopecia is a disorder and women who get it are especially distraught over having it.
That being said, Will Smith had no right to lay a hand on another human being. Period.
Polaro
Marcy, having trouble growing hair isn’t a big deal. She rocks the bald look. She could wear a wig. It was just a joke. Seriously, stop making excuses for violence.
747jumbojet
Amen, Polaro!! No excuses!! Besides…I thought she was so confident?? Obviusly not… PATHETIC performance Smiths and Academy!!
THAT Steve
Focusing on the queer reaction s to this is like when local news covers a major disaster but only mentions the one victim from their area. Other than clicking to say that, I couldn’t care less about Will Smith or the Oscars.
jeff1370
This site is for the queer agenda, not for right wing trolls! You have your own websites! Stay away!
Jim
Aren’t we all glad that poor little Jada has a big strong man to protector her. Strong independent woman my ass!
And brave Will who has how many pounds of Rock, protecting his manhood and his woman.
This couple is NOT a class act and brought the Oscars to a real low.
NO EXCUSE FOR VIOLENCE
Winsocki
Most of those Celebrity queer comments were wishy washy b.s. That was totally wrong and Will Smith only got away with it because he is entitled and makes money for Hollywood. Liberal Hollywood now turns a blind eye to onstage assault of a presenter. The joke was not even bad. Jada is facing a disease that is not life threatening or requires medical devices. For WIll, a person can screw his wife with his blessing but do not give a G.I.Jane joke. Rock should file assault charges.
RomanHans
If Hollywood were liberal, they’d have done a lot more than tired G. I. Jane jokes.
Ronbo
“Liberal”? Hollywood fuels this kind of toxic masculinity – which is NOT liberal. Some don’t see the irony of calling the media, owned by the rich establishment, the “liberal” media?
This media pumps out Murder, Death, Kill for profit. THAT is conservatism, not liberal thinking. Kathy Griffin was right. It’s only a matter of time until comedians have to protect themselves from people who feel entitled using violence to enforce their beliefs and demands.
There is a great documentary called “Can we take a Joke”. Apparently, Will Smith can’t.
Fahd
Ronbo, the Russian operative, working from the troll farm’s database. F*** off.
MarcyMayer
Leftists in Hollywood are hypocrites.
They accuse Republicans/conservatives/libertarians of things they do in their own lives.
They wax poetically about their love of the poor, but live in multi-million dollar gated mansions in Hollywood where armed guards are protecting them and their properties. The only people of color with whom they are in contact are their maids and gardeners.
They’re against walls on our border, but not around their estates.
They are opposed to law-abiding citizens having guns, but they have no problem employing armed body guards.
They are all hypocrites.
Doug
Some of the Smith-supportive comments I’m reading from other celebrities not mentioned here really show how many ass-kissers there are in Hollywood. There was no excuse for Smith’s behavior, and his attempt at trying to look “chivalrous” to the world watching looked more like narcissism. What kind of message did he give to kids watching that moment?
emarell9
Thank you! At last someone has pointed out the preexisting macho-pig-ness and hypocrisy of Will Smith. We all became aware of his homophobia way back when he publicly bragged about successfully avoiding kissing another actor in the film version of ‘Six Degrees of Separation.’ He bullied the director/whatever into working around it. And spent years bellowing about no one making him do such a thing “ain’t gonna kiss no man” (I paraphrase). Sincerely I hope this incident marks the end of his career – he can go hang out with Mel Gibson.
Ronbo
Fahd – Do you think that LGBT people are so stupid to actually believe your insults and name calling? No. They do know that you are willing to lie to support your addiction to hate and personal attacks.
Taka a break from hate. It’s not part of the LGBT family values.
strap2900
They should definitely take Smith’s Oscar away from him for his assault on Rock. I felt like I was watching a Trump Rally.
GlobeTrotter
Now that’s what I call PRIVILEGE! Will Smith slaps the shit out of Chris Rock and acts like a boorish hoodlum, LIVE in front of millions, and the only consequence is humorous, light-hearted applause from Hollywood’s elite. This is the ULTIMATE HYPOCRISY – railing against “White Privilege”, “Religious Privilege”, “Gender Privilege”, “Heterosexual Privilege”, “Socio-Economic Privilege”, yet calmly committing assault in broad daylight and being awarded an Oscar for one’s efforts. And liberals wonder why they and their woke agenda are so firmly rejected by mainstream America.
Eternal.Cowboy
That you see one person hit another person and your reaction is to try to turn it into something you can leverage to promote your politics says a lot about you. And is generally the case with people that are complete partisan hacks you really can’t seem to make a coherent point.
For example, you called this an act of privilege and then criticize the left for “railing against” “Socio-Economic Privilege”… What privilege do you think Will Smith leaned into there? You think it wasn’t is status in society? You think it wasn’t him being really damn rich? It privilege you are decrying is the same privilege you are mad at the left for harping on.
MarcyMayer
Leftist Hollyweird is totally cut off from what Americans believe.
That’s why Biden’s and the Democrats’ approval ratings are cratering.
If America agreed with Biden and the Dems, their poll numbers would be increasing. They’re NOT. They’re decreasing. Therefore, MOST Americans don’t buy into this leftist woke crap.
Red Wave coming in November: Republicans will retake control of the House and Senate and then investigate and impeach The Dementia Patient in the White House!
Den
“Red Wave coming in November: Republicans will retake control of the House and Senate and then investigate and impeach The Dementia Patient in the White House!”
What an incredible dullard you are, not surprising for a hetero far-right man. How many times have you been asked to support your lie regarding “dementia” with a verifiable link or actual evidence? Why do you men always lie like goddamned carpets?
Why do you even come here Mr.? Do you get hard when others laugh at your stupidity? There are many reasons that Biden’s ratings are low, quite a number of which have nothing to do with anything under his control. But glad to see you reveal your hatred for participatory democracy and American history! We see your disdain for the actual progressive agenda of increased enfranchisement, economic equity, respect for science and education, jobs, infractructure, strengthening alliances with other democracies and so on. All you offer is culture war crap, and lie after lie!
What a buffoon of a man you are “marcy”.
Mister P
He was not awarded an award for assault and the liberal agenda is neither about violence nor rejected by mainstream America.
MarcyMayer
ALL of the polls show that Biden’s and the Democrats’ policies are being rejected even by people of color.
Red Wave coming in November. You better have your life preserver handy.
Bwahaha
ShiningSex
what does liberal have anything to do with this you idiot.
Kinkslola
MarcyMayer: go away with your red wave. We need masks as not to smell the rotten fish that’s coming from you
RomanHans
Got it. When gay people become famous, they stop recognizing assault.
MarcyMayer
🙂
woodroad34
The hosts talk about ‘toxic masculinity’ …and for illustrative purposes, we bring you Will Smith…otherwise known as King Dick. Well, if I was inclined to see his movie, that little episode was a definite “c*ck blocker”
Man About Town
Elliot Page looks like he has a bad case of insomnia!
Doug
He looked extremely nervous… he hasn’t had a lot of public exposure since his transition, and it took a lot of guts for him to show up at the Oscars.
Polaro
No idea why Elliot is mention in the article. He had nothing to say on the topic. He appears to be well along the path to his transformation. I hope he is happy.
Kangol2
I found Will Smith’s response shocking and appalling, and felt he should have been escorted right out of that ballroom, with his wife, right after he assaulted Chris Rock, who is a comedian after all, and is expected to joke with the audience. Smith even laughed initially, then decided to channel Richard Williams and then turn into John Legend and whack Rock across the face. NOPE! Bad form, classless, and utterly unacceptable.
I get that Chris Rock won’t press charges, but Smith should be disciplined for his actions. Also, don’t forget that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith are not that private about their private lives; they put all their business out in the street so TMZ and no one else has to. Lastly, the world has known about Jada’s alopecia since 2018, when she publicly discussed it. It’s 2022, so this isn’t news.
Kangol2
I was glad to see Ariana DeBose honored for an exceptional performance in a retrograde film, and I loved Jessica Chastain’s acceptance speech. The rest of the show was pretty dull, though.
Fahd
The show was tedious to watch.
Will Smith is an entitled a**hole who once again gave an example of how celebrities can and do abuse their privilege. I thought it especially telling of his hypocrisy that he spends all this time flirting with and supporting stuff that Leah Remini left, but then stands up there trying to justify his bad behavior with down home, Southern Baptist, God talk. Tears of regret for exposing himself as who he really is.
What a low class stunt!
moretruth
“We can’t judge people on their moments.” Um, no, MJ, we can. That’s what we have to judge them on. Many millions of us haven’t assaulted someone in front of an international TV audience. .
Polaro
Bingo.
Inspector 57
So then would Michaela Jae Rodriguez not judge Officer Kim Potter for that “moment” when she mistakenly fired a bullet instead of a taser into the body of Daunte Wright?
rray63
I didn’t even watch the Oscars but damn if it isn’t on everything today. I only have one question. If you or I as a fan had left our seat and walked up to Rock, smacked him upside the head we would have been tackled, cuffed and led out to a ride to the police station. Why was this not done to Will?
leauxbeaux
Chris took the high road and did not request such is why. Of course, how he made it back to his seat without security taking him down is “special.” I wonder how things might have gone had Chris smacked back.
ShiningSex
Will Smith is a piece of sh*t. He laughed too. He only reacted when Jada gave him a dirty look.
He’s so fake. They’re gross and annoying. He didn’t deserve the win either.
Hope they take it away from him.
BaltoSteve
I find it an interesting choice to slap him. Not punch him, but to slap him. As if he had enough presence of mind to realize that, after all training for the Action/Thriller movie roles he has done, before doing King Richard, he might do some serious damage to Chris Rock’s face if used a fist.
Jaquelope
I had pretty much the same thought. Hitting him with a closed fist would/could have done much more damage, so Chris needs to be grateful it was only a slap. His recovery from the slap was nearly instantaneous, so it couldn’t have been all that bad.
Actually, it looked more like a stage slap than anything, and the whole incident could have been (and probably was) totally scripted.
GayEGO
Will Smith is uncontrollable, he should not have slapped him. They should have removed his Oscar for his actions.
Bosch
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” – Isaac Asimov.
Huron132
I agree with Kathy. WS just gave way for people who are not happy with a comedian with just go all Will Sith on them. It was a shameful display of toxic masculinity. Also, sadly people will project this in a negative way for POC. I’m just so disappointed.
Polaro
I must say I was a big Will Smith fan. I’ve not liked some of his more recent films, but there are so many good movies he has done and I even like his music. He also seemed like a nice guy. We’ve all seen the weird stuff he and Jada have been saying the last few years, and his kids are super odd, but I chalked it up to Hollywood.
Then the slap and the the bizarre acceptance speech have made me re-think the Smith clan. Will had the chance to apologize, but really just made excuses for hitting a man reading a joke that was written for him by the Oscar writers. All the kiss-ass covering for his completely inappropriate and illegal behavior reinforces my belief that a lot of people have lost touch with reality.
I guess you could chalk it up to black on black violence which no one cares about…but that would be overly simplistic.
rray63
To leauxbeaux,
Try that in any other place. They don’t ask, they don’t need your request. Remember, a criminal act in court is CA vs Will. They have video evidence, all that is needed. This is some, they are special crap for Hollywood STARS, nothing more.
TimidTim
This again? Funny that they show a picture of the Beatty\Dunaway announcing the “wrong” Best Picture stunt. That’s basically them outing themselves. Anyone wondering if that actually happened or if it was a cheap PR stunt for ratings, this basically proves the latter. They do this every year. Got it from WWE, the UFC weigh ins and the BET awards just off the top of my head. In fact the one person who’s reaction was most nonchalant and basically “this again?” was the Rock. In fact the way Hollywood is going along with this is a throwback to pro wrestling pre Vince MacMahon Jr. calling it all sports entertainment. No selling it knowing it’s a work as they would put it. Key word in sports entertainment is entertainment and where do you think they got that term from? This show needs the rating desperately and Hollywoods known for unionizing and blacklisting and keeping that precious inner circle protected. The more pull you have the more dedicated they are to protecting that image. Ain’t gonna #MeToo Charlie Sheen, son of the beloved liberal who marched with Cesar Chavez. The higher you are on the totem poll the more they’re gonna look the other way. If you’re as beloved as someone like the now Oscar winning Will Smith and he’s in on what the Academy is shilling this year for ratings so be it.
Jaquelope
I never went that far in my thought process, but it seemed to me that the entire situation was too close to what I had to learn about stuntman fights and stage fighting, as I have been in several stage productions in my life and needing to have a convincing “fight” with no one getting hurt.
There were too many things that happened during this incident that led me to this conclusion: Jada’s initial reaction (that tiny, nearly unnoticeable moment when she remembered that she was supposed to be outraged), the way Will slapped Chris (the camera never actually caught his hand making contact with his face, but it making an inordinate amount of noise, as happens very often in stuntman fights), Chris’ almost immediate recovery from the “slap” which according to the noise it made, should have stunned him for longer, and he would have nursed it a bit longer if it had actually connected.
People need to remember that these people are *actors* who would have knowledge of these tricks of the trade. There are other small clues, and anyone with both a decent amount of observation and/or theatrical experience and interest should be able to figure out what actually happened there.
That “slap” was not an Oscar-worthy performance.
SDR94103
blm
nebskram
Will Smith was wrong to use violence to express his feelings But…
when you have a negative history with someone its probably not a good idea to insult their spose who they have watched suffering from a medical condition.
with the history they have i think Chris said that “joke” just to see what kind of rise he could get out of Will.
so he got what he asked for
Joshooeerr
So most of these would-be “LGBT” celebrities rushed to minimise and make excuses for Smith’s violence. Not a good look.
Essie
I’ve never watched the Oscar ceremony in my life so I missed this live. But, waking up to this photo of one Black man hitting another Black man on a stage in front of millions. It is so embarrassing. So violent. I just have no words.
chris_clb614
The situation was bad all around. Chris Rock probably went off script as a presenter. Will Smith made his apologies, with the knowledge that much worse oscar winning people than those who slap people who joke about a significant other, let’s move on please.
KRobert57
I believe that Will Smith did the right thing and proper thing. I’m a gay man who came out Good Friday 1977. Not only that, but I was married at the time and my wife was pregnant with our second child. We lost a baby in between our first and second child. I love my ex-wife very deeply and profoundly; however, I was not in love with her. So, when I came out, she said, “I always knew this day would happen.” We divorced and remained very close, mainly for the children. But as the years went by, we turned into a couple who loved each other very much. She was always supportive and honest about whomever I was dating or just screwing. When I finally found the right man, she said that we complemented each other. So, I married him. If any of you as a gay man who loved a woman so very much, you would understand. If anyone even my own sons said crap about my ex-wife I would do the same as Will Smith. My ex-wife is my dearest and closest friend on this Earth, and no one would dare to say crap about her in my presence. I hope you all understand what I am trying to express here.