Will Smith & Chris Rock’s Oscars 2022 Slap: Diddy Offers Update
The past is apparently in the past, for Will Smith and Chris Rock following their on-stage Oscars 2022 encounter.
“That’s not a problem. That’s over. I can confirm that,” Sean “Diddy” Combs said to Page Six at the Vanity Fair Oscars party (which Smith also attended). “It’s all love. They’re brothers.” He didn’t share anything beyond that.
It all started during the third hour of the 94th Academy Awards, when Rock took the stage to present the award for documentary feature, and among the jokes before he got to that was one about Jada Pinkett Smith and G.I. Jane 2. Will Smith walked up onto the stage and slapped Rock. While the sound cut out from the U.S. broadcast, it did not elsewhere, including Japan and Australia. “Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me,” Rock said after. “Keep my wife’s name outta your f**king mouth!” Smith yelled from his seat and repeated himself when Rock followed that up with, “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.” Rock is not pressing charges.
Smith went on to win for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work in King Richard. During his acceptance speech, he did acknowledge what happened and apologize to his fellow nominees and the Academy, but did not mention Rock. “I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people. I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse, you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you, and you gotta smile and you gotta pretend like that’s OK,” he said.
He also noted that Denzel Washington came up to him after what happened and told him, “At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.” He went on to say, “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.” He ended his speech with “I hope the Academy invites me back.”
