At the 2022 Academy Awards, actor Will Smith became provoked and slapped comic Chris Rock, who was accepting the award for Best Documentary. Although many found this fight amusing, they still wonder what exactly caused this confrontation and whether or not it was staged.

According to the American Entertainment website Screen Rant, “Rock’s presentation started seemingly as normal … When he made a reference to Jada Pinkett Smith is when things started to take a turn. Rock made a quip about [Pinkett] Smith starring in G.I. Jane 2, saying: ‘Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you.’… Rock himself was clearly shaken (though seemingly uninjured) by the encounter, quickly finishing up announcing the winner of Best Documentary Feature after first announcing that, ‘Will Smith just smacked the [explicit] out of me’ From the response of Rock and Smith, as well as others in attendance, then it became clear their altercation was a real, unscripted, and genuinely heated moment.” The reasoning behind this is that Pinkett Smith, who is Smith’s wife, suffers from alopecia, an immunity disorder that causes hair loss. Although Rock was trying to be humorous, Smith found that the comedian was “making fun of that condition and Pinkett Smith’s struggle”, as reported by Screen Rant. The site also noted that, “there is of course no justification for violence.”

About six years ago, Twitter user @_ja_s_on_ joked that, “Will Smith has to punch Chris Rock in the face …. He has no choice.” Since then, the tweet has gone viral, with many people saying that the user predicted the physical feud between Smith and Rock, whether or not he was referring to any comments that Rock would make. The clip of Smith and Rock’s fight has also gone viral on YouTube. Various sources, including rapper P Diddy, have confirmed that Smith and Rock have resolved their conflict. “I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us,” Smith apologized in a recent Instagram post. “I am a work in progress.” Smith’s post also mentioned that, “violence in all forms is poisonous and destructive.” Rock himself has confirmed that he will not press any charges against Smith, despite the fact that the Los Angeles Police Department was prepared to arrest him.

Even though things have cooled off between the actor and comic, their fight has resulted in various memes and generated buzz among fans. Some are claiming that Smith’s apology wasn’t genuine and he didn’t deserve the Oscar for his role in the film King Richard, in which he played Richard Williams, the father of tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams. Despite the various accounts of and people’s reactions to Smith and Rock’s fight, one thing is certain: it’s an event that will go down in Oscar history.