As a reminder, Chris Rock was presenting the prize for best documentary when he dared to make a dubious joke about the alopecia suffered by Jada Pinkett Smith. “Jada, I love you, GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see it“, he joked, referring to Demi Moore who shaved her head for her role in the 1997 film. A joke in bad taste since Jada did not shave her head for fun or to follow a trend but because she has been battling hair loss for years and decided last year to shave it all off, she regularly admits to suffering a lot from this disease.
Shocked, Will Smith was then offended by Chris’s joke and went to punch the comedian in full live. Stunned, Chris said: “Will Smith just kicked my ass” Furious, Will Smith had shouted at the actor: “Leave my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.” Moments later, the actor won the Oscar for best actor for his role as Richard Williams (father of tennis champion sisters Serena and Venus Williams), in the film The Williams Method.
Following this incident, the Academy of the Oscars decided to no longer allow the actor to attend “any event or program” organized by him for ten years. For his part, Chris Rock spoke for the first time about this annoying slap, on stage, and spoke of the pain felt.