Will Smith hit Chris Rock in the face on the Oscars stage Sunday night after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
After Rock joked about Will Smith’s wife appearing in “G.I. Jane 2,” a reference to her shaved head, the actor walked onto the stage and hit the comedian across the face.
“Wow, Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” Rock said, looking stunned.
“Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth,” Smith shouted as he returned to his seat.
“Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke,” Rock answered after a moment of silence.
Smith, who was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in “King Richard,” repeated the statement.
“I’m going to, OK?” Rock replied.
Jada Pinkett Smith has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss and balding. She has been open about her experience with hair loss, revealing in July that she had shaved her head.
“Willow made me do it because it was time to let go BUT … my 50’s are bout to be Divinely lit with this shed,” she wrote in an Instagram post at the time.
During a commercial break soon after the incident, Will Smith appeared to wipe away tears.
Smith went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor. In an emotional acceptance speech, he apologized to the academy and his fellow nominees.
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” he said at the beginning of his remarks.
The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement on Sunday night that it was aware of the incident, but that 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,” the department stated.
The Oscars responded to the attack by saying it does not condone violence: