Thanks to a newly surfaced video taken at the 2022 Academy Awards on Sunday, the cycle surrounding Will Smith’s Slap ‘Heard Round the World has been extended. Captured just a few rows from the stage, the footage appears to show Jada Pinkett Smith laughing after her husband slapped Chris Rock.
Racking up hundreds of thousands of views across multiple viral meme accounts, the clip captures Smith storming off the stage and sitting back in his seat as Jada laughs along with the rest of the crowd while a stunned Rock says, “Will Smith just smacked the shit of me.” Like everyone else, however, her mood seemed to shift after Will shouted at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!”
Check out the footage below.
In case you forgot, Smith was reacting to Rock’s joke that Jada looked like “G.I. Jane 2.” The crack cut especially deep, since Pinkett Smith revealed last year that she had shaved her head after struggling with alopecia.
Shortly afterward, Smith addressed the slap during his acceptance speech for Best Actor without apologizing to Rock, and he was spotted rapping and dancing along to his song “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” during an Oscars afterparty.
On Monday, Smith issued a formal apology to Rock after the Academy launched a “formal review” of his actions. The organization has since revealed the actor refused to leave the Oscars after the incident and voted to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith.
Understandably so, Rock merely said he was “processing what happened” during a standup show in Boston on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, celebrities ranging from Jim Carrey to Alec Baldwin to Oscars hosts Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer have all given their thoughts on the Slap, but Daniel Radcliffe wisely chose to sit this one out.
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