Will Smith slaps Chris Rock in the middle of Oscars presentation

The Oscars were seemingly going along smoothly when Chris Rock was introduced as the next presenter. Rock threw some jabs out there in typical fashion, but his joke about Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith apparently hit a sore spot. NSFW.

VIA JAPANESE TELEVISION: The uncensored exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock pic.twitter.com/j0Z184ZyXa

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 28, 2022

It’s hard to tell whether this was staged or not, but ABC decided to mute the next 30 seconds or so while Smith was seen mouthing “keep my wife’s name out of your mouth” to Rock. He added some choice words to that phrase. Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith looking GI Jane. Will originally seemed to laugh off the joke but Jada was not impressed and that’s what triggered this exchange.

Here's the moment Chris Rock made a "G.I. Jane 2" joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, prompting Will Smith to punch him and yell, "Leave my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth." #Oscars pic.twitter.com/kHTZXI6kuL

— Variety (@Variety) March 28, 2022

Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith looking like GI Jane. She’s been open about having alopecia https://t.co/UWhfqc106z

— Maija Kappler (@MaijaKappler) March 28, 2022

There have been some questionable presenter decisions at this Oscars ceremony but this takes the cake. If this was a planned exchange to gain publicity, mission accomplished. If there is actually some bad blood between Rock and the Smiths, we’ll hear more about it in the coming days. For now, we’ll just keep analyzing the uncensored international video.

Update 7:47 p.m. Yeah, this isn’t a “work” as they would say in wrestling parlance. Will Smith really hit Chris Rock in the middle of the Oscars.

During the commercial break, Will Smith is pulled aside and comforted by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry, who motion for him to brush it off. Will appears to wipe tears from his eyes as he sits back down with Jada, with Denzel comforting Jada and Will’s rep by his side. pic.twitter.com/uDGVnWrSS2

— Scott Feinberg (@ScottFeinberg) March 28, 2022

“Sell Cooper Ku…. “ pic.twitter.com/1BHF0HhzeZ

— LaQuan Jones (@RealDealFantasy) March 28, 2022