Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith were minding their own business at the Oscars when out of nowhere, their long time friend Chris Rock went on stage and made a tasteless joke about Jada's lack of hair – it's tasteless because she has alopecia.
As a result the fresh prince jumped up out of his seat, stormed on stage, hit Rock and shouted: "Get my wife's name out of your f****** mouth."
Fans take to Twitter to share their reactions following Will Smith's assault on Chris Rock. Photo / Getty Images
But the reactions don't stop there. It seems even celebrities have been indulging in the Twitter reactions. New Zealand director Taika Waititi is yet to publicly comment on the matter but was pictured in a tweet by Derek Blasberg looking as shocked as we felt.
Meanwhile, this is everybody at my table at the @vanityfair Oscar dinner manically googling wtf Will Smith just said to Chris Rock 🤷🏻♂️🍿 pic.twitter.com/rJBz4LCboW
And former Golden Globe presenter Ricky Gervais gave fans a hint he was not impressed with the assault. The star was absent from the award ceremony but has since liked tweets including one by actor Rob Reiner saying, "Will Smith owes Chris Rock a huge apology. There is no excuse for what he did. He's lucky Chris is not filing assault charges. The excuses he made tonight were bull****"
He also liked a tweet saying: "After all the initial joking I hope Will Smith has to return his Oscar. His behaviour was unacceptable. He's a bully and deserves to be punished."
Meanwhile, Judd Apatow wrote in a since-deleted tweet, "He could have killed him", continuing on to say, "That's pure out of control rage and violence. They've heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshman in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind."
He later added, "I have more hair on my back than on my head and I can take a joke about it."
American comedian Kathy Griffin also weighed in, with a tweet addressing Smith's "bad practice".
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.
While plenty of tweets have condemned the star's violent outburst, others have shown compassion for Smith. Rapper, Nikki Minaj told fans, "while y'all seeing the joke he's seeing her pain".
You just got to witness in real time what happens in a man’s soul when he looks over to the woman he loves & sees her holding back tears from a “little joke” at her expense. This is what any & every real man feels in that instant. while y’all seeing the joke he’s seeing her pain
Denzel Washington comforts Will Smith during the show at the 94th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Photo / Getty Images
Actor Bradley Cooper also showed support for the actor as he embraced Smith and appeared to deliver some words of encouragement while tapping him lightly on the chest.
The pair then hugged tapping each other on the back several times, and pulled away briefly for a short discussion, before hugging again.
Cooper appeared to comfort Smith after the incident. Photo / AP
