WILL SMITH is being chastised for not apologising to Chris Rock in his Oscar acceptance speech, despite slapping him on the stage minutes before.
The uproar began when the legendary standup comedian made a joke about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
After winning Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum took the stage, with many expecting him to apologise to Chris.
Will, 53, began his speech by saying, “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family.”
“I want to apologise to the Academy, I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees,” he later added. This is a lovely moment, and I’m not crying because I won an award…”
“… Love will make you do crazy things,” Will said as he sobbed during his speech.
The actor concluded by expressing his hope that “the academy will invite me back.”
However, the A-lister made no mention of Chris, prompting many enraged fans to rip Will on Twitter.
“Sorry, Will Smith’s acceptance speech is not an excuse for his actions,” one person wrote.
Another person stated: “Will Smith says in his speech that he has been called to love people. Yes, after punching them in the face, I taught them to turn the other cheek.”
“During his extremely long acceptance speech, Will Smith never apologised to Chris Rock for hitting him,” one person said.
“Will Smith getting through his acceptance speech without mentioning Chris Rock but vaguely apologising,” another added.
“The director of the Oscars is really struggling to find a cutaway shot of someone applauding or supporting Will Smith in this acceptance speech about him being a ‘protector’ and a ‘river,'” one fan said.
SHOCK FIGHT
While everything was going swimmingly on Hollywood’s biggest night, things came to a screeching halt when Chris took the stage to present the Oscar for Best Documentary.
The former Saturday Night Live castmate then appeared to deviate from the script and pursue Will’s wife Jada, 50.
“Jada, I love you, G. I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” Chris jokingly said.
Demi Moore famously shaved her head for the 1997 film.Jada, on the other hand, has been dealing with hair loss due to her alopecia diagnosis for years and decided to shave it all off last year.
WILL GOES OFF
Will then stormed the stage and hit the presenter in what appeared to be a stage bit before it all went wrong.
The audio and video feeds were then cut for several seconds, presumably to allow for an exchange of expletives.
The shocking encounter between the two stars, however, was shown on Australian television.
“Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me,” a stunned Chris said after the altercation.
When the video resumed, Will was furious, yelling at the comedian, “Leave my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!”
NO LAUGHING MATTER
According to a source: “According to a source close to the Oscars, Chris Rock was not interrupted by Will Smith during yesterday’s rehearsals. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. It was true.”
During the commercial break, Sean Combs and Tyler Perry allegedly approached Will and comforted him.
Will appeared to wipe tears from his eyes as his co-stars motioned for him to brush them away.
During an episode of her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk in 2018, Jade discussed her “hair loss issues.”
“It was terrifying when it first started,” she explained. I was in the shower one day, holding handfuls of hair in my hands, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh my god, am I going bald?’
“It was one of those moments in my life when I was literally shaking with fear.” That’s why I cut my hair, and why I’ll keep cutting it…”
