While awards shows are often boring, this 94th edition of the Academy Awards certainly left its mark after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face over a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
As well as earning its place as an unforgettable TV moment, the scene also gave rise to an avalanche of memes on Twitter.
Chris Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith did not go down well with Will Smith.
The comedian, who was on stage to give the Oscar for the best documentary, was subjected to a surreal slap in the face by “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” in front of an audience of totally stunned stars.
It was an improbable scene for such a prestigious and globally anticipated ceremony, and one which inevitably flooded Twitter with all kinds of memes.
On social networks, memes inundated the web, comparing Will Smith’s slap to the famous meme of Batman slapping Robin.
And the reactions of Lupita Nyong’o and Nicole Kidman drew much response from internet users.
On Twitter, users used the #whatjusthappened hashtag to react to this historic moment, bringing together the most popular memes on the platform.
So what happened?
Chris Rock addressed Jada Pinkett Smith, comparing her short hair to that of Demi Moore in the “G.I. Jane” movie: “Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2’ can’t wait to see it,” he quipped to the laughter of the audience. The only thing is that the actress has revealed that she suffers from alopecia.
While Will Smith also appeared to laugh at this joke at first, Jada Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes and barely cracked a smile.
While Chris Rock, who obviously noticed the situation, began to defend his humour, Will Smith suddenly stepped up on stage in front of a stunned Chris Rock to land a slap on his face, its sound echoing through the microphone.
While ABC decided to mute the sound following the incident, the room fell silent as Will Smith yelled to Chris Rock, twice, “Keep my wife’s name out your f*cking mouth.”
“Wow. Wow, Will Smith just smacked the sh*t out of me,” Chris Rock reacted. “It was a ‘G.I. Jane 2’ joke,” he added afterwards, by way of justification, still on stage and visibly shocked.
