By: Michal Savage, Seth Smith, Isaac Berry, and Elise Sandlin
MTN Lifestyle and Entertainment Reporter
It is no secret that the ratings for the Oscar awards telecast have been plummeting over the last few years. Nielsen ratings data shows that the 2022 Oscars may have beat 2021’s abysmal 10 million adult viewers with a count of 15.3 million viewers at the 2022 show’s peak.
However, to put this into perspective, the 1998 Oscars were watched by 55.3. Suffice to say, the Oscars have needed something to spark the public’s interest recently — and, after the 27th’s show, many certainly engaged with at least some of the awards show content.
At around 9:27 CDT Sunday , Chris Rock was presenting on stage when he said:
“Jada (Smith), I love you… G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”
Chris Rock’s joke was made at the expense of actress Jada Pinkett Smith — poking fun at her shaved head for the event. Unfortunately for Rock, Jada’s husband of 25 years Will Smith was not amused by the comment. Moments after the joke was made, Will Smith walked up on stage and smacked Chris Rock across the face.
1. Here is that moment in one of the first tweets sharing with the world the event: “Will Smith slapped the s*** out of Chris Rock.”
Since, the smack has been known by dozens of new sites as:
“The slap heard around the world.” Many media companies, influential figures, and the general public have taken to twitter to share their thoughts on the smack. First up… Will and Jada’s son, Jaden Smith:
2. Jaden’s Tweet: “And That’s How We Do It.”
He shared few words on twitter, but they certainly are publicly in support of his father. Next up, Conan O’brien seemed to find the smack “Late Night Show”-worthy:
3. Conan’s Thoughts: “Just saw the Will Smith slap. Anyone have a late night show I can borrow just for tomorrow?”
He shared few words on twitter, but they certainly are publicly in support of his father. Next up, Conan O’brien seemed to find the smack “Late Night Show”-worthy: 3. Conan’s Thoughts: “Just saw the Will Smith slap. Anyone have a late night show I can borrow just for tomorrow?”
E News was sure to share Smith’s acceptance speech from later on in the night, a speech in which he apologized for the slap:
4. E News’ Tweet of the acceptance speech: “Will Smith just won Best Actor at the 2022 Oscars and got emotional during his acceptance speech, where he apologized for slapping Chris Rock earlier during the show.”
Lastly, a humorous tweet depicting actress Zendaya texting actor and boyfriend Tom Holland by the user Haleigh has gone viral.
5. “Tom, you’ll never guess what just happened. So Chris Rock—”:
Clearly, the smack has gained media traction at record rates. However, a quick twitter search will quickly reveal the divided responses. Want to see for yourself? Take to twitter and search:
“Will Smith Chris Rock Slap”
“Oscars 2022 Slap”
“Oscars Will Smith”
“Oscars Chris Rock”
Was Will Smith’s reaction an example of toxic masculinity? Did Chris Rock cross a line? Did Will Smith only get excused for his behavior because of who he is? Should Chris Rock have publicly apologized? Many opinions out floating in the twitter-verse.
Finally, as a bonus, here is Chris Rock’s reaction after getting smacked across the face in front of the whole world:
“Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me!”