The 94th Academy Awards were held earlier today at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles. While several awards were given to actors, filmmakers and others, what has been making headlines is something else – the controversy between Will Smith and Chris Rock. Smith slapped Chris for making an insensitive joke about his wife’s illness and left everyone around the world shocked.
Later, Will Smith who also won the Best Actor award joined the after party where he was spotted along with his wife Jada, daughter Willow, and sons Trey and Jaden. He also joined the dance floor and took the centre stage. When Smith’s 1997 summer anthem ‘Gettin Jiggy Wit It’ was played, a circle formed around the actor to see him dance. He held his Oscar in his hand as he grooved to the song.
For the unversed, everyone at the 94th Academy Awards was left shocked and stunned after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. It all started after Rock came on the stage to introduce the best documentary feature when he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, being in a sequel to ‘G.I. Jane’– seemingly a reference to her shaved head. This disappointed Will who got up from his seat and slapped Rock in front of the entire world.
“Keep my wife’s name out of your f****ng mouth,” he screamed. Chris then said, “Will Smith smacked the s*** out of me.”
Later, Will Smith was awarded the Best Actor award for his performance as Richard Williams, ambitious father and coach of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard. During the acceptance speech, he broke down during the acceptance speech and apologized to the Academy for his behaviour. “I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me, it’s about being able to shine a light on all the people..the entire cast and crew of King Richard,” he said.
