The organisers of the Oscars have announced that they are to hold a formal review after Will Smith went onto the stage and struck host Chris Rock last night. You can see the slap in the video below.
The Oscars film academy said it ‘condemns’ Smith’s actions, which occurred after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
The King Richard star, who took home the Best Actor award at last night’s ceremony in Los Angeles, then went onto the stage and hit the comedian before telling him to keep ‘[his] wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth’.
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In a statement, the organisers of the event said: “We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law"
The whole ugly situation developed because Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s hair, stating: “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2.”
That’s a reference to an army film in which Demi Moore played a recruit with a shaven head.
Pinkett Smith has short hair because she suffers from alopecia, which she has spoken out about before.
Smith took against the remark, despite initially seeming to laugh, before walking up onto the stage to everyone’s shock and slapping the host.
Rock laughed it off and continued on with the show, but Smith later apologised – not to Rock, but to the Academy – in his Best Actor acceptance speech.
In his speech, Smith said: “I want to apologise to the Academy, I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees.”
He later added: “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said. I look like the crazy father just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Academy had tweeted out seemingly to condemn Smith’s attack on Rock.
They wrote: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form.
“Tonight 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 Los Angeles Police Department also confirmed that they are aware of the incident in a tweet, which seemed to further confirm that Rock did not press charges.
They wrote: "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."
Topics: Will Smith, Celebrity, TV and Film, Oscars
Tom Wood