Will Smith has won his first Academy Award, moments after a stunning incident in which he smacked presenter Chris Rock on stage for making a joke about his wife and twice shouted a vulgarity.
Will Smith hit Chris Rock at the Oscars ceremony. Photo: AFP or licensors
"Keep my wife's name out your f***** mouth," Smith said, moments after he smacked Rock on the Oscars stage.
Rock had just made a joke about the hairstyle of Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith that referenced the movie GI Jane in which actress Demi Moore shaved her head.
It was unclear whether Rock, a comedian and actor, was aware that Pinkett Smith suffers from a disease that causes hair loss.
In a statement sent to media, and without naming names, Los Angeles police said investigators were aware of the incident, but that, "The individual involved has declined to file a police report".
Should Rock change his mind, however, Smith could be in jeopardy.
"If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report," the statement said.
A few minites after the incident, Smith captured the best actor honour for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the determined father who raised tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.
Smith, 53, one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, had been nominated twice before, for 2001's Ali and 2006 movie The Pursuit of Happyness.
"I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees," Smith said in a tear-filled acceptance speech, without apologising to Rock.
In King Richard he depicted Richard Williams and his unconventional strategy for elevating his daughters from a municipal park in a hardscrabble Los Angeles neighborhood to Centre Court at Wimbledon.
Will Smith with his Best Actor Oscar. Photo: AFP
"Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family," Smith said in his acceptance speech, in reference to him defending his wife after Rock made the joke about her short hair.
Jada Pinkett Smith told Billboard in December she has been battling the autoimmune disorder alopecia, which can cause hair loss and balding.
Smith walked on stage toward Rock, who had his hands behind his back when Smith threw an open hand at his face that produced an audible smack.
Smith walked on stage and slapped Rock in what at first appeared to be a scripted joke.
But the mood turned sombre moments later when Smith, back in his seat, shouted back: "Keep my wife's name out of your f***** mouth".
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith at the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on 27 March 2022 in Hollywood, California. Photo: Getty Images via AFP
Smith shot to fame in the 1990s in the television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and took on mostly comedy and action roles early in his movie career before expanding into drama.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for playing professional boxer Muhammad Ali and his second for portraying another real person, Chris Gardner, a onetime homeless father who went on to found his own brokerage firm.
Venus and Serena Williams joined the project as executive producers only after they watched the completed film. Richard Williams has been in ill health for years and did not take part.
"It is terrifying when you play a real person that is still alive, and you know that they're going to see it," Smith told late night TV host Jimmy Fallon in November.
- Reuters
