As the public discourse around the drama on Oscars night continues, a new angle captured on camera shows a surprising reaction.
Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith’s wife, can be seen laughing as her husband returns to his seat after slapping presenter Chris Rock in the face over a joke he made about Jada’s bald head.
In the previously unseen footage taken from behind the couple at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Smith could be seen returning to his seat after slapping Rock, who then tells the audience, “Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.”
Pinkett Smith appears to be laughing at this line, and she also seemed to chuckle when the comedian said, “That was the … greatest night in the history of television.”
The Academy has since announced that following the incident, Smith was asked to leave the auditorium but he “refused” and later went on to win Best Lead Actor for his performance in King Richard.
The Academy announced they would be investigating the incident, saying things unfolded in “a way we could not have anticipated”.
“While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognise we could have handled the situation differently,” the Academy said in a statement released on Thursday.
Will Smith issued an apology to Chris Rock in a statement on Instagram the day after the Oscars, with the comedian saying he is “still processing” what happened.
Image credits: Getty Images
This article first appeared on OverSixty.