Oscars 2022: Will Smith Punches Chris Rock, Goes Nuts Before Winning Best Actor

[AndyDursin]

Don't worry about Will -- he's got his "calling from God" and he's just fine.

[AndyDursin]

[Eric W.]

It's brilliant. No one gave a @#$% about this worthless show and wouldn't be talking about it at all were it not for this. I halfway wonder if this was a work and a setup otherwise Will Smith has truly gone bonkers. The uncensored footage... yeah, it's probably real but if you've ever seen any pro wrestling then it almost makes you wonder.

It's Chris Rock. We know what we're going to get it and yes he needed to be a little more careful but c'mon. People are saying she has alopecia. I didn't know that. I honestly had to look it up because I've never heard of that particular term for hair loss.

I can about guarantee you Chris Rock didn't know it and maybe never heard of it, either.


You couldn't put a gun to my head to watch any of the crap they presented that I've never even heard of.

I wonder how many scores of lawyers lit up Chris Rock and his agents' phones last night 60 seconds after that went down? I couldn't blame him if he did something but he probably won't.

[AndyDursin]

I halfway wonder if this was a work and a setup otherwise Will Smith has truly gone bonkers.

Oh I think it's definitely that. And maybe he's always been that way. People think he's likeable because of his image, but who the hell knows?

I just can't understand why anyone would think that was "staged". How does the show get a ratings bump from it? Nobody was watching live, most everyone found out because of social media and/or tuned in after the fact. How do they parlay that into 2023? "Tune in next year when Nicole Kidman bitch-slaps Jessica Chastain"?

The slap/punch is one thing, the interaction between them that ended up with the longest stretch of dead air I've ever seen on network TV in my life was something else altogether.

Plus, he's not a good enough actor to pull that off. His rambling, incoherent acceptance speech was evidence of it being real -- and someone clearly in turmoil.

[AndyDursin]

[AndyDursin]

...and of course the inevitable:

[AndyDursin]

Will be interesting to see if Smith gets disinvited from next year's show. I'd doubt it, but Hollywood industry types not happy either.

[Eric W.]

I halfway wonder if this was a work and a setup otherwise Will Smith has truly gone bonkers.

Oh I think it's definitely that. And maybe he's always been that way. People think he's likeable because of his image, but who the hell knows?

I just can't understand why anyone would think that was "staged". How does the show get a ratings bump from it? Nobody was watching live, most everyone found out because of social media and/or tuned in after the fact. How do they parlay that into 2023? "Tune in next year when Nicole Kidman bitch-slaps Jessica Chastain"?

The slap/punch is one thing, the interaction between them that ended up with the longest stretch of dead air I've ever seen on network TV in my life was something else altogether.

Plus, he's not a good enough actor to pull that off. His rambling, incoherent acceptance speech was evidence of it being real -- and someone clearly in turmoil.

I agree. The uncensored footage out of Japan pretty much ices it.

CJ Pearson better watch out. He's going to get laid out suddenly.

[mkaroly]

What is equally weird is that I read a blurb in passing that WS might lose his Oscar due to a violation of the Academy's Code of Conduct policy...

...to which I said to myself, "Wait...Hollywood has a code of conduct/ethics??"

[AndyDursin]

They added it in lieu of the #metoo stuff. And of course there's something so perverse and hypocritical watching a guy go up on stage, assault Chris Rock, and cause the lowest moment in the show's entire history -- only to then stand up and applaud him less than a half hour later. What frauds!

[Monterey Jack]

They added it in lieu of the #metoo stuff.

What's stopping them from rescinding Oscars won by actors and filmmakers who have been "cancelled" in the years since? Does Kevin Spacey have to mail his two statues back? Does the award then get handed to whoever came in second?

And of course there's something so perverse and hypocritical watching a guy go up on stage, assault Chris Rock, and cause the lowest moment in the show's entire history -- only to then stand up and applaud him less than a half hour later. What frauds!

Exactly. They had AMPLE time to go up to Smith and tell him to get the hell out and that he was not welcome on the stage again. Either do that on the spot, or else don't bother with retroactively stripping the Oscar from him. It sets a terrible precedent that, the more powerful the actor/filmmaker, the more lenient the Academy will be with them. This isn't just a Best Actor winner allowed to have a rambling, indulgent acceptance speech that doesn't get cut off by the orchestra...it's criminal assault in a room with hundreds of witnesses and being broadcast around the globe! If it were Smith acting as a presenter, and a "lowly" person from the unaired tech categories came up on the stage and punched/slapped him, they would have been tackled by security personnel on the spot.

[AndyDursin]

Exactly and the security or lack thereof was a joke. And you're also right to ask what's stopping them from rescinding the award -- nothing. In fact the Academy just said they "condemn" Smith's actions and are "investigating" the situation. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up, if nothing else, barring him from attending the show for at least next year, which is embarrassing by itself since the prior year's winner always hands out the next Best Actress. They should not allow him back on the stage as a presenter/guest unless he's up for an award, period.

Smith, the more you think about it, really dug himself a grave here. That was his big shining moment and his first Oscar, and what he did overshadowed that -- and really the entire night for all the people who won. Very sad and pathetic display.

[Eric Paddon]

They added it in lieu of the #metoo stuff.

What's stopping them from rescinding Oscars won by actors and filmmakers who have been "cancelled" in the years since? Does Kevin Spacey have to mail his two statues back? Does the award then get handed to whoever came in second?

Don't forget the obvious one:

[Eric W.]

Will Smith has issued a public apology to Chris Rock over this debacle.

It's another strike against basic public civility in this day and age but I do again note the irony: The Oscars haven't had this much attention and buzz for years. Go figure.

[Monterey Jack]

Smith, the more you think about it, really dug himself a grave here. That was his big shining moment and his first Oscar, and what he did overshadowed that -- and really the entire night for all the people who won. Very sad and pathetic display.

This is why the "it was all staged" conspiracy theories don't hold water, because what POSSIBLE benefit could it be to Smith's career to do this? He was already the favorite to win (he's been "due" for years, and like DiCaprio for The Revenant, it felt like the Academy giving him the award just to make him go away ), so why would he be part of a staged assault of a presenter making a joke that -- while ill-advised -- was no more tasteless than the majority of presenter patter in an average year? All he was doing was overshadowing what should have been the highlight of his career just so he could look like...a rage-case psycho "defending" his unfaithful wife's honor? This felt like what it was...a guy who has been repressing a great deal of rage for a while who just needed to vent, and choosing the most public display of it he could as some sort of performative cry for help. It does not excuse what he did in the slightest, but I don't for a second think it was something Smith and Rock planned out ahead of time as some sort of Andy Kaufman-esque prank.