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(BBC) – Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face on stage at the Oscars after the comic made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” he said, in an apparent reference to her shaved hairdo – a result of the hair loss condition alopecia.
Smith walked on stage and struck Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”
He later apologised to the Academy.
In a tearful acceptance speech for best actor, he also said he wanted to apologise to all his fellow nominees. There was no specific apology for Rock.
The star picked up the first Oscar of his career for playing the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.
“Art imitates life,” he said. “I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, tweeted that it “does not condone violence of any form”.
Rock’s joke referred to 1997 film GI Jane, in which Demi Moore played the title role with a severe buzzcut.
Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes at the comment, while Smith appeared to initially laugh and clap his hands before he was seen on stage, walking up to Rock.
The comedian looked stunned in the immediate aftermath of the incident, but told the audience: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
He is yet to comment further on what happened.
After the incident, Rock handed over the best documentary prize, which was the reason he was on stage.
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, a tearful Smith needed to be “pulled aside and comforted” by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry.
The trio could be seen talking just in front of the stage during an advert break, with Washington and Perry putting their hands on his shoulders. A Star is Born actor Bradley Cooper was also seen standing with Smith and appearing to reassure him.
Presenting the next section, Sean “Diddy” Combs said: “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like family. Right now we’re moving on with love.”
Fresh Prince of Bel Air actor Smith later wrote on Instagram: “You can’t invite people from Philly or Baltimore nowhere!!” – referring to his birthplace Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland, where his wife of 24 years is from.
Smith attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party with sons Trey and Jaden, daughter Willow and his wife – smiling for photographers and posing with his award on the red carpet.
Other guests at the party reacted to the incident, with filmmaker David Furnish saying he tells his sons with Elton John “don’t hit anybody… under any circumstance”.
But actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish defended Smith, saying he had been standing up for his wife.
Jaden Smith tweeted after his father hit Rock: “And that’s how we do it.”
Other members of the film industry criticised Smith, with The Last Samurai producer Marshall Herskovitz calling on the Academy to take disciplinary action against him and Star Wars actor Mark Hamill calling it “the ugliest Oscar moment ever”.
He added: “Stand-up comics are very adept at handling hecklers. Violent physical assault… not so much.”
Comedian and actress Kathy Griffin said she now feared for the safety of comedy performers.
“Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian,” she said. “Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the Will Smith in comedy clubs and theatres.”
