History was made many times during the evening on Sunday night's telecast of the Academy Awards. Still, the biggest takeaway that has everyone talking is the confrontation between Will Smith and Chris Rock. During the ceremony, Rock took some time to joke about some of the celebrity attendees, eventually making his way to King Richard star Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Joking about Jada's hairstyle, Rock noted, "G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see it!"
We all know what happened next. Smith stormed the stage shortly after that and smacked Rock in front of millions of people watching worldwide. As Smith walked back to his seat, Rock commented on the surreality of having Smith "smack the s**t" out of him, but the awkwardness did not end there. Rock lamented how it was just "a G.I. Jane joke," suggesting the response was a bit of an overreaction. Smith took exception to that as well, screaming at Rock seemingly at the top of his lungs, visibly irate.
"Keep my wife's name out of your f**king mouth!" Smith said.
Initially, Oscars producer Will Packer made light of the situation with a public post on Twitter. While not precisely condoning what happened, Packer quipped, "Welp... I said it wouldn't be boring."
That tweet did not go over quite as well as Packer may have thought it would. The comment drew a lot of criticism, with some stating their feelings on how it was inappropriate to joke about a situation that should have been taken much more seriously. As one person on Twitter put it in a direct response, "Making jokes about an assault that happened during your show isn't the congratulatory message you think it is."
"Black people have a defiant spirit of laughter when it comes to dealing with pain because there has been so much of it," Packer said in direct response to that tweet. "I don't feel the need to elucidate that for you. But I also don't mind being transparent and say that this was a very painful moment for me. On many levels."
Chris Rock Declined to Press Charges Against Will Smith
The incident has divided many online. While there are some who feel Smith was in the right as he was "defending his wife," others say that resorting to violence was not only inappropriate but illegal as well. As of now, Rock has not pressed charges against Smith, though he will have up to six months to do so. If Smith were to be charged with assault, he'd be facing up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $100,000.
"The Academy does not condone violence of any form," reads an official statement from The Academy in response to the situation. "Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world."