Here’s what we know. At Sunday night’s 2022 Oscars, comedian Chris Rock made a joke about actress Jada Pinkett Smith. The butt of the joke was her shaved head – the result of her struggle with alopecia. In response to the slur, Will Smith (her husband and soon to be Academy Award-winning actor) walked onto the stage and slapped Rock across the face. He then returned to his seat before shouting to Rock to “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.”
The altercation was live on TV, from start to finish.
The next morning, the internet exploded with memes, commentary, condemnation, Twitter defenders, Insta attackers, TikTok complications, insights and outrage. Even Labour leader Keir Starmer had a stance. Five-times Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais weighed in with a thinly veiled tweet, and within 48 hours, Will Smith had apologised publicly to Chris Rock.
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