Conspiracy Theorists Are Claiming That Chris Rock Wore A Cheek Pad Before Will Smith Slapped Him

Some Oscars viewers have revealed their theory that Chris Rock was wearing a pad on his cheek when Will Smith slapped him at the Oscars.

There are some pretty wild conspiracy theories out there, from 5G masts causing Covid-19 to US President Joe Biden's reference to a 'new world order' sending the internet into a frenzy that he had supposedly confirmed its existence.

And as if the altercation hasn't been spoken about enough already, the latest theory involves Chris Rock and Will Smith.

Smith took to the stage twice at the 94th Academy Awards – not only to accept his Oscar for Best Actor, but also to slap presenter Rock after he made an offensive 'GI Jane 2' joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's lack of hair – a result of her alopecia.

Many viewers were left conflicted as to whether or not the slap was real or staged, and possibly part of a skit that American comedian Kevin T Porter claimed to have written.

However, now conspiracy theorists are suggesting that the slap was indeed real, but that Rock was expecting it – so much so that he wore a pad on his face to soften the blow.

"In 8k quality images you can see a pad on chris rocks cheek, yeah conspiracy theorists gonna go crazy with this one," a Twitter user said.

Others were quick to leap in on the debate, seemingly convinced by the theory.

"The most expensive slap turned out to be part of the script shocking yall ain't think about how he didn't get fined and 20minutes later he won a #oscar," one said.

Another wrote: "And he's also leaning in and gritting his teeth to take it."

"Hate to be a conspiracy theorist but..." a third commented.

However, some users contested the theory.

"It’s funny tho, Cus this isn’t an 8K quality image. Nor will it ever be an 8K quality image, Cus not only is Twitter only capable of posing in barely HD, there’s not a single smartphone out there with a screen resolution of 8K. Try again," one stated.

Many noted the use of Photoshop to edit the image or AI apps being misused, resulting in information being added – i.e. a cheek pad – that just isn't there, Gizmodo reports.

A user explained: "That's an upscaling software error. When there's so little information on a part of a photo the software has to make up what's there and sometimes with only a simple shadow on the face, these software can make up a lot of strange things."