The Academy Awards took a sudden, dramatic turn in the midst of the ceremony on Sunday night. Given how much everyone has been talking about the moment since, even those who didn't watch the Oscars live are now well aware of the tense confrontation between King Richard star Will Smith and award presenter Chris Rock. For those wanting to see a peaceful end to the situation, the good news is that Smith and Rock have reportedly worked it out, this according to Sean "Diddy" Combs.
“That’s not a problem. That’s over. I can confirm that,” Diddy told Page Six. "It's all love. They're brothers."
The incident came about when Rock was on stage as a presenter, as he first started joking about some of the celebrity attendees. Because of a joke Rock had delivered about Jada Pinkett Smith's short hairstyle, Smith had approached the comedian on the stage and smacked him, seemingly much to Rock's surprise. With Rock coming to terms with Smith "smacking the s**t" out of him on stage, things got even more tense when Smith repeatedly screamed at the comic to leave "my wife's name out of your f**king mouth!"
For his part, Rock joked off the awkward confrontation by suggesting this made the telecast the "greatest night in the history of television." Though seemingly rattled by the incident, Rock moved on as normal. Later on in the night, Smith won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in King Richard, and he seemed to still be upset with Rock in his acceptance speech by apologizing to the Academy and the other nominees for his outburst, while neglecting to apologize directly to Rock.
“I want to apologize to the Academy," Smith said while sobbing. "I want to apologize to all of my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people.”
Diddy Was the Next Presenter After Chris Rock Was Slapped
After Rock left the stage, Diddy was the next presenter at the Academy Awards, there to introduce a tribute to The Godfather trilogy for the original film's 50th anniversary. Because there was still tension in the air, he had attempted to help bring the show back on track by praising the show's trio of hosts and lightly joking about the situation before moving on.
“I just want to say, let’s make some noise for Amy [Schumer], Regina [Hall], Wanda [Sykes]! Gotta give it up for Wanda," Diddy said. "I did not know that this year was going to be the most exciting Oscars ever. OK, Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like family at the Gold Party, okay? But right now we are moving on with love. Everybody make some noise!”
There had been rumors that Rock and Smith would be meeting after the Oscars to potentially talk out the situation, and as noted by Sean "Diddy" Combs, that seems to have been the case. Even so, people are going to be talking about the shocking moment for years to come, cemented as one of the most outrageous moments in live television history.