During the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, actor Will Smith walked onstage and slapped comedian Chris Rock across the face during Rock's presentation for Best Documentary Feature. The slap was in response to an unscripted joke Rock made about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, a result of alopecia. Rock said that he "can't wait to see" Pinkett Smith in a sequel to the film G.I. Jane (1997), in which Demi Moore's titular character has a shaved head. After slapping Rock, Smith returned to his seat and shouted profanity at Rock, who briefly responded before completing his presentation without further interruption.
Later that evening, Smith won Best Actor for his role in King Richard. In his acceptance speech, he apologized to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and other nominees, but not to Rock. The next day, he issued an apology to Rock and the AMPAS through social media. Smith resigned his Academy membership on April 1, facing a potential suspension or expulsion, and was banned from attending AMPAS events for 10 years.
Live television broadcasts in the United States mostly muted the incident due to federal censorship laws. However, uncensored international footage went viral on social media; an excerpt from the Australian broadcast became one of the most-viewed online videos in the first 24 hours. The incident received worldwide attention and largely overshadowed the rest of the ceremony. Reactions to the incident were polarized, with most expressing disapproval of Smith's actions.
Background
Jada Pinkett Smith (born Pinkett) is an American actress who rose to fame in 1991 for her role in the television show A Different World. In 1994, she met Will Smith on the set of Smith's television show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The pair married in 1997, and she changed her name to Jada Pinkett Smith.
Pinkett Smith and comedian Chris Rock had a long history of interactions. The pair worked together on the Madagascar films. In 1997, in an interview on his late-night talk show The Chris Rock Show, he had commented on her participation in the Million Woman March. Rock had previously hosted the awards twice, including in 2016, which several actors (including Pinkett Smith) boycotted due to the lack of African-American nominees. Rock joked in his opening monologue, "Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties. I wasn't invited."
In 2018, on her talk show Red Table Talk, Pinkett Smith revealed she had been experiencing hair loss, potentially because of stress. She was diagnosed with alopecia areata and in July 2021, she started completely shaving her head.
By February 8, 2022, Will Smith had been nominated for an Academy Award for his acting in the film King Richard. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Rock as one of the presenters of 94th Academy Awards, taking place on March 27, 2022.
Incident
Rock announced the nominees for Best Documentary Feature, performing a brief monologue largely read from a teleprompter script. Smith and Pinkett Smith were seated together near the front of the audience. Rock made an unscripted comment about Pinkett Smith's shaved head, comparing her to the titular character in the 1997 film G.I. Jane.
Chris Rock: Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see it, all right?
Much of the audience, including Smith, laughed, while Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes in annoyance. Just as Rock was about to continue his speech, he noticed Smith rising from his seat, and jokingly addressed him as "Richard" in reference to Smith's portrayal of the titular character in King Richard.
Rock: It's—that was a—that was a nice one! Okay, I'm out here—uh oh—Richard! [laughs]
As Rock continued to laugh, Smith walked across the stage, slapped Rock across the left cheek, then turned around and walked back to his seat. Many in the audience initially thought that the attack was scripted; physical violence was incongruous with the calm, positive persona that Smith had maintained throughout his career. When Smith began shouting at Rock, however, the audience realized that his outburst was genuine.
Rock: Oh, wow! Wow! Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me. [audience laughs] Thi—
Will Smith: [shouting from the audience] Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth!
[audience gasps]
Rock: Wow, dude!
Smith: Yes.
Rock: It was a G.I. Jane joke.
Smith: [slower; voice rising] Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth!
Rock: I'm going to, okay? Oh, I could, oh, okay. That was a... greatest night in the history of television, okay. [audience laughs] Okay. So we are here... to, uh... give a documentary out—to give an Oscar out for best documentary.
Smith's expletives were censored by audio muting during the live broadcast in many countries. The audience expected an explanation for the incident, but the show did not use hosts from this point on.
Photograph
Photojournalist Brian Snyder, working for Reuters in the photographer pool in the projection booth, photographed Smith striking Rock. This photo quickly went viral, was featured in news stories, and was adapted into Internet memes. He was unaware of the photo's cultural impact until after the ceremony, as his photos are automatically sent to his editors. He was profiled by multiple media outlets, including photography outlet PetaPixel. Another described him as "The One Winner In The Will Smith vs. Chris Rock 'Smackdown'", speculating that "Surely, Snyder will now win the most coveted and prestigious photojournalism award, the World Press Photo of the Year, thanks to his photo that captured the moment Smith hit Rock, as his photo has been used by every publication under the sun."
Uncensored viewership
In the United States, broadcaster ABC muted Rock's and Smith's expletives due to federal censorship laws. However, many international broadcasters chose not to, and uncensored recordings of the event went viral on social media. The uncensored footage from the Australian broadcast on the Seven Network was posted by The Guardian on YouTube and received more than 50 million views within 24 hours.
Additional videos
Additional smartphone footage was published on March 31 from an audience member's perspective of the Smiths' table. This seems to show the reaction of Pinkett Smith during and after the joke, as unamused and rolling her eyes during the joke but then seeming to laugh when Rock commented, "Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me".
Aftermath
Initial response
Immediately after the incident, Rock continued his presentation for Best Documentary Feature, which was awarded to the crew of Summer of Soul. Smith continued to participate in the ceremony and subsequent celebrations. Some in attendance were surprised that no actions were taken; others wondered whether Smith would be allowed to stay. Within forty minutes, Smith was presented the award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard. He focused his emotional speech on divine justification and his need to protect those around him: "Love will make you do crazy things", he said, and apologized to the Academy, the other nominees, and to Richard's daughters Venus and Serena, who were in attendance. However, he did not extend an apology to Chris Rock until the next day. The live audience gave Smith two standing ovations. Anthony Hopkins, who then presented the Academy Award for Best Actress, directly addressed Smith's behavior and Best Actor speech within his own speech, stating, "Will Smith said it all. What more can be said? Let's have peace and love and quiet."
According to the Academy, Smith was asked to leave the ceremony but refused. However, others who were present in the hall denied that Smith was ever asked to leave, either directly or through a representative. Backstage disagreement ensued between members of the Academy's leadership and ceremony producer Will Packer on whether Smith should be allowed to stay, which led to no action being taken. Variety reported that Packer "was the key to Smith remaining in his seat". Packer opposed suggestions to remove Smith from the theater because he did not believe that Rock would agree.
After the ceremony, award winners were advised to only answer questions about their work and nothing else. LAPD officers met with Packer, who later recalled that they were prepared to arrest Smith on charges of battery. Rock repeatedly declined to press charges. Early the next morning, Smith's son Jaden tweeted, "And that's how we do it!" The tweet sparked mixed reactions, with many celebrities expressing strong disapproval. In the first of many consequences for Smith, Netflix canceled a planned sequel to Smith's 2017 urban fantasy action film Bright, mainly due to the negative publicity of Smith's altercation.
Public apologies
Following public backlash, Smith issued a formal apology on Instagram and Facebook the next day. He referred to his behavior as "unacceptable" and "inexcusable", directly addressing Rock: "I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."
Three days after the incident, Rock briefly mentioned the subject for the first time at a comedy show, saying that he was still processing it, but promised to talk about it in the future. He said that Smith had not contacted him personally, nor had they spoken since the ceremony. Claims on social media that Rock had apologized were debunked by fact-checkers.
Smith posted a YouTube video on July 29 in which he addressed the incident and apologized to Rock, Rock's mother, Rock's brother Tony, Questlove, the other Oscar winners, and his wife Jada saying he was "deeply remorseful" for his actions.
The next day, March 28, the Academy's 42-member Board of Governors announced a formal review of the incident, scheduled for March 30. AMPAS President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson announced this in an email to Academy members. The following day, Smith initiated a six-minute Zoom call with Rubin and Hudson, apologizing for his actions. The call was not mentioned at the review and the Board of Governors were not aware of the conversation when discussing disciplinary procedures. They charged Smith with "violations of the Academy's standards of conduct, including inappropriate physical contact, abusive or threatening behavior, and compromising the integrity of the Academy." The Academy said, "While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently." Smith was invited to provide a written response within a fifteen-day period, after which the Board of Governors would vote on whether "suspension, expulsion or other sanctions under the Academy's standards of conduct" would be applied. Numerous Academy members said that AMPAS should, at the very least, suspend his membership, citing the organization's standards of conduct implemented eight weeks after Harvey Weinstein's acts of sexual abuse were exposed. When the board learned of Smith's apology call, one of the participants stated the lack of transparency to the board was suspicious and showed lack of leadership.
The Academy had never expelled a member prior to 2004, when the Board of Governors voted unanimously to expel actor Carmine Caridi for sharing promotional copies of films that were later mass-distributed. Subsequently, the Academy expelled Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby, and cinematographer Adam Kimmel for sexual crimes.
Resignation and ban
Smith preemptively resigned on April 1, 2022. AMPAS told him that he was likely to be expelled for a decade or more. AMPAS announced it would continue disciplinary proceedings for violations of the Academy's Standards of Conduct. Their next disciplinary meeting, scheduled for April 18, was intended to decide upon the issues unaddressed by Smith's resignation, including allowing him to retain his Best Actor Oscar for King Richard, allowing him to be invited by other members to future Academy Awards ceremonies, and allowing his nomination for future consideration while no longer a voting member of the Academy. Variety reported that Smith's other professional membership at SAG-AFTRA would be informed of the AMPAS disciplinary review outcome. The meeting was then moved earlier, to April 8; Rubin wrote that "Following Mr. Smith's resignation of his Academy membership on Friday, April 1, suspension or expulsion are no longer a possibility and the legally prescribed timetable no longer applies. It is in the best interest of all involved for this to be handled in a timely fashion."
At the April 8, 2022 meeting, Smith was banned from attending the Oscars or any other Academy event for 10 years. NBC News obtained a letter signed by David Rubin and Dawn Hudson, revealing the Board of Governors' decision effective that day, of a ten-year ban where Smith "shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards". Smith issued a succinct statement: "I accept and respect the Academy's decision."