'Violence isn’t ok': Hollywood reacts to Will Smith hitting Chris Rock at Oscars

Combination of pictures created on March 27, 2022 shows US actor Will Smith (left), US actress Jada Pinkett Smith attend the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022 and US actor Chris Rock speaking onstage during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022. – Photo by Angela Weiss and Robyn Beck / AFP)

In a moment that will forever define the 2022 Academy Awards, Will Smith walked onstage after Chris Rock improvised a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and smacked him in the face.

While the joke – which poked fun at Jada's shaved head, after the actress has been vocal about her alopecia diagnosis since 2018 – was in bad taste, fans and attendees at the show alike were absolutely stunned at the hit, which at first seemed improvised, but turned out to be a real-life emotional outburst from Smith.

Further complicating the evening was that Smith won the Oscar for best actor less than an hour later for his work on King Richard, and spent much of his speech tearfully justifying his actions to his peers and saying sorry.

"I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I'm not crying for winning an award. It's not about winning an award for me. It's about being able to shine a light on all of the people," he said. Smith ended his speech by saying, "I hope the Academy invites me back."

Needless to say, the outburst drew a flood of reaction on Twitter, from jokes and memes to more somber reminders from the Hollywood community that people shouldn't assault comedians just because their material doesn't work. – Reuters

Check out the most notable reactions below:

Just saw the Will Smith slap. Anyone have a late night show I can borrow just for tomorrow? — Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) March 28, 2022

Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a Comedian. Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters. — Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 28, 2022

Lol so public assault is the answer to an insensitive joke in 2022??! Good to know. I’ll be doing my next Netflix special over Zoom. — London Hughes (@TheLondonHughes) March 28, 2022

Violence isn’t ok. Assault is never the answer. Also? This is the 2nd time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the #Oscars stage, & tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather. — Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) March 28, 2022

Every comedian should post a Will Smith joke in solidarity with Chris Rock. I’m not. But every other comedian should. — the lucas bros (@lucasbros) March 28, 2022