Here's How Viewers Reacted To Will Smith's Oscars Outburst
If you've been watching the 2022 Oscars — or, for that matter, browsing Twitter — you probably know that things got out of hand between Will Smith and Chris Rock, who was on stage to present the Oscar for best documentary feature, and made a "G.I. Jane" joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. Per Billboard, Pinkett Smith has been very open about her hair loss-causing alopecia, and she didn't exactly seem thrilled by Rock's remark. Her husband, however, took things further. Smith rose from his seat, walked up to Rock, and slapped the presenter across the face. He then returned to his seat, and screamed at Rock: "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth!"
It's the kind of incident you don't see every day at an awards ceremony, especially one of this magnitude. Smith did apologize for his actions during his speech when he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but the viewers have plenty of opinions about his Oscars outburst.
Viewers do not condone physical violence
Soon after the incident, the hashtag #whatjusthappened started trending on Twitter, as many people expressed their shock about what, indeed, had just happened. Apart from the obligatory shock, jokes, and memes, many viewers seemed to think that while Chris Rock's joke was way out of line, the fact that Will Smith decided to get physical was a step too far.
"Jada has alopecia — an autoimmune disease. A woman losing her hair is devasting. Making a joke and laughing about someone's illness is not OK. That's called bullying. I don't condone the assault but I understand why Will Smith was very upset," @Anneredmond13 wrote, expressing sympathy to Jada Pinkett Smith but noting that both Rock and Smith were out of order.
"Defending your wife is one thing when an insensitive joke is made, but using physical violence in that situation is not at all ok. Could've been handled way better. Don't know why Will was laughing at the joke before the slap," @figgynyk opined.
Others expressed their disappointment in the fact that Smith won the Best Actor award after the incident. "NOT WILL SMITH WINNING AN OSCAR AFTER COMMITTING ASSAULT," @bry07051229 wrote.
All in all, it's clear that this situation will keep people talking for quite some time.