Oscars 2022: Will Smith Smacks Chris Rock for Joke on Jada; Twitter Reacts

Jada Pinkett Smith has been vocal about her hair-loss journey and living with alopecia.

Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at the Oscars 2022.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

The Oscars is all about cinema and the red carpet but this year’s edition has the Internet buzzing over something else– Will Smith and Chris Rock’s altercation on stage. Chris was on stage to present the Oscar for ‘Best Documentary Feature’ and made a ‘G.I. Jane’ joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head after which Will Smith got on stage and hit Chris.

While several viewers have posted videos of the part that followed the altercation being muted out, in some uncensored versions available online, Will can be heard saying, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**ing mouth!”

While the Euphoria jokes and memes are taking over Twitter, several users have criticised Chris for the joke on Jada’s appearance especially after she has been vocal about her hair-loss journey after being diagnosed with alopecia, others disapprove of Will’s decision to use violence.

Saint Hoax, the first-ever 'Meme Correspondent' on the Met Gala, shared this post on Instagram:

Theoretical cosmologist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein reacted to the situation on Twitter, “I’m not advocating violence but f**k a dude who takes to the Oscars stage and makes fun of a woman who is dealing with alopecia. How pathetic and weak of spirit do you have to be, to mock someone’s suffering. And that joke was misogynist and a whole host of other things. Jesus.”

She added, “This same dude made a documentary about Black women and hair clearly learned diddly squat. The joke was misogynoir and I can understand why her partner was deeply upset,” referring to Chris’ documentary ‘Good Hair’.

“Chris Rock fucking profited off of Black womens’ sometimes painful relationship with hair and then got up and told a joke about a woman who is going through it — in public? F***ing shame on him,” Chanda further wrote.

A user tweeted, “So Jada Smith has alopecia & has been very open about the difficulties and pain of dealing with hair loss. I imagine that’s why Will was so pissed about Chris Rock’s joke about her hair but wow. That was unexpected.”

“Chris Rock literally made a documentary about the historical issues and shame around Black women’s hair. And then make a bald joke about a woman with alopecia. Dude. (Also, hitting people is stupid),” another tweet read.

Sophia Bush shared, “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. Punching down at someone’s auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather.”

Referring to Will Smith’s acceptance speech at the Oscars and the altercation with Chris, actor Clarke Wolfe tweeted, “NOPE. “LOVE” IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR VIOLENCE. EVER,” adding, “I adore Will Smith. I’ve wanted this win for him for years. What a shame something he’s worked for decades to achieve will be forever tied to that moment.”

“Ugh. I can’t let it go. Punching someone because of love. Will had the perfect platform to apologize to Chris. That was still assault. Inappropriate joke? Sure. You could have defended and protected your wife honorably off stage and w/o violence,” a Twitter user wrote.

The Oscars 2022 ceremony took place in Los Angeles on 27 March. Will Smith won the award for ‘Best Actor’ for his role in King Richard.

Jada Pinkett Smith on Living With Alopecia

On 28 December, Jada Pinkett Smith had posted a video on Instagram talking about her hair loss journey. 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…” She pointed to a hairless line on her head and continued, “So, it just showed up like that. Now, this is going to be a little more difficult for me to hide. So, I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking any questions.”

She added that she would place rhinestones on her scalp, “Might as well make me a little crown. That’s what mama’s gonna do.”

She continued in the post’s caption, “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!"