During the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, presenter Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith being in “G.I. Jane 2” because of her short hair. Pinkett Smith has previously been vocal about having a hair-loss condition. Her husband Will Smith’s response to Rock’s joke while presenting the Best Documentary Oscar to “Summer of Soul” proved to be unscripted. The telecast cut out the audio feed in the U.S. broadcast. However, the Australian broadcast aired the whole, unedited sequence live. According to a leaked clip of the ceremony, Smith stormed onstage and smacked Rock in the face, with an audible thump. “Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” Rock says while smiling. Smith, meanwhile, yells from his seat, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”
Rock responds, “Wow dude, it was a ‘G.I. Jane’ joke.” Actors and journalists took to Twitter to post their disbelief at the altercation. Minnie Driver tweeted, “What. Was THAT?” Barry Jenkins similarly wrote, “WHAT???” Watch the clip below.
— erickohn (@erickohn) March 28, 2022
— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) March 28, 2022
— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 28, 2022 Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
