The Oscars made a lot of breaks from Academy Awards tradition this year in an attempt to boost the show’s ratings. They gave out a bunch of awards before the show even began, they threw in some extra musical performances, and they had extreme sports athletes show up to honor the 60th anniversary of James Bond for some reason. No one is going to remember any of that. What they’re going to remember is the shocking moment that Will Smith reacted to Chris Rock making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair by walking onto the stage, hitting Rock square in the face, and then returning to his seat.
It seemed at first like a strange comedy bit, until Smith continued screaming at Rock from his seat, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth!” and you saw how shocked Rock was by the whole thing. Afterwards, the show continued as if nothing had occurred and a short while later Smith was allowed to accept his Oscar when he won the award for Best Actor for his work in King Arthur.
If you’re wondering about whether Rock could have theoretically pressed charges against Smith, you’re not alone. According to Variety, the LAPD released a statement confirming their awareness of the incident of the event at the Oscars — and stating that Rock “declined to file a police report.” Here’s what they said:
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.
Rock wasn’t hurt; he was able to hand out the Best Documentary Award to Questlove for Summer of Soul just a few minutes later. So a police report might have been extreme given the outcome. Still, you have to believe if a random audience member at one of Chris Rock’s comedy shows had walked on stage and slapped him in the middle of his set, they would not be allowed to return to their seat and watch the rest of the show.
You can read a full list of the night’s winners — including Will Smith — here.
The Worst Oscar Best Picture Winners
These movies won the Academy Awards for Best Picture over better, more deserving films.
:quality(85):upscale()/2023/05/11/976/n/1922564/782262e2645d6b967847b4.74342194_.png)
