Hollywood superstar Will Smith smacked comedian Chris Rock live on stage during the 94th Academy Awards last night.
The Oscars were thrown into chaos after the actor stormed on stage following comments about Will's wife Jada Pinkett Smith made by the comic as he presented an award.
The joke poked fun at Jada's hair style as she shaved her head following a battle with alopecia.
Will was not best pleased and proceeded to approach Chris Rock on stage and hit him just minutes before being named best actor at the ceremony.
But what exactly was said, have apologies been made, and how is Hollywood reacting?
What did Chris Rock say?
Comedian Chris Rock said: "Jada, can't wait for GI Jane 2," referencing the fact Jada had shaved her head into a buzzcut.
GI Jane is an action movie from 1997 which stars Demi Moore as Jordan O'Neil.
Jordan, in order to complete her tough training and to solidify her position as a Seal, shaves her head and becomes the titular GI Jane.
Jada made the decision to shave her head as she battles alopecia - a condition that causes hair loss.
Taking to social media last year, she explained why she decided to shave her head, she said: "Now at this point, I can only laugh… y’all know I’ve been struggling with alopecia.
"Just all of a sudden, one day…it just showed up like that,
"Now, this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So, I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking any questions…
"Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something. Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!"
It is not the first time that Chris Rock has made a joke about the Smiths during an award show.
The couple decided to boycott the Oscars in 2016 as no people of colour were nominated for an award for the second year in a row.
Chris Rock then aimed comments at Jada and Will while presenting the show.
He said: "Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties—I wasn’t invited."
"It’s not fair that Will was this good and didn’t get nominated. It’s also not fair that Will was paid $20 million for Wild Wild West."
What did Will Smith do?
After the comments, Will Smith walked up on stage and appeared to hit Rock before returning to his seat and shouting twice: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.”
Leaving Chris Rock shocked and flustered, footage of the altercation is now all over social media and is dominating the headlines.
The comedian quickly tried to resume presenting the best documentary feature category.
However, the incident cast a dark cloud over the rest of the show with Smith accepting the award for best actor for this portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard just moments later.
Apology
During his acceptance speech, Will Smith seemed to issue and apology to both the Academy and his fellow nominees - but not to Chris Rock.
Smith joked saying that he "looks like the crazy father" as he collected his award.
Reaction
The Academy issued a short statement following the incident at last night's awards.
“The Academy does not condone violence of any form,” the organisation tweeted.
Will Smith’s son, Jaden, has tweeted: “And That’s How We Do It” after his father appeared to slap comedian Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards.
Jaden also told his Twitter followers his father’s acceptance speech for best actor made him cry.
Stars such as 50 Cent, DJ Jazzy Jeff and actress Sophia Bush have also spoken out about Will Smith and Chris Rock's shocking on-stage fall out.
Rapper 50 Cent captioned a screenshot of the altercation; "B*tch don't you ever play with me. LOL."
One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush highlighted that violence was unwarranted despite such a 'cruel' joke.
"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," the actress tweeted.
"Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather."
She added: "For people asking if her alopecia is public knowledge? Yes. She 1st spoke about it in 2018. She’s been open about it since & the Smiths/Rock have a long-overlapping circle.
"Hitting him was not okay. AND his “joke” was cruel & personal. All of it, awful."
Kathy Griffin seemingly took fellow comedian Chris Rock's side in the fall out, tweeting: "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 theatres."
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