After Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, the actor followed Rock on stage and slapped him in the face before returning to his seat.
Rock was on stage to hand over the best documentary prize at the 94th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles but before doing so he made a joke about Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” he said, in an apparent reference to her shaved hairdo – which is a result of the hair loss condition alopecia.
Rock’s joke referred to 1997 film GI Jane, in which an actress played the title role with a severe buzzcut, the BBC reported.
Smith was seen laughing at first after Rock delivered his line but Jada was visibly annoyed.
Many in the audience probably thought it was part of a planned routine but they were shocked when Smith followed Rock onstage and struck him in the face.
Smith then returned to his seat and shouted: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”
There was silence in the hall as Smith repeated his warning and Rock responded by saying “I am going to.”
The comedian who looked stunned then told the audience: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
Smith later apologised on stage when he went back onstage to receive the first Oscar of his career for playing the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.
“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to my all my fellow nominees,” he said during a tearful acceptance speech for best actor.
“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
The Los Angeles Police Department said Rock had “declined to file a police report” following the event.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, tweeted that it “does not condone violence of any form”.
