The Oscars 2022 night turned out to be a controversial and what seems like a historic one, for not the good reason when Will Smith strode to the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock after the comedian cracked a joke about the Hollywood star's wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. The clipping of Smith slapping Rock has been viral on social media and everyone, be it a fan of Oscars ceremony or not, is talking about it. Later in the night, Smith won the best actor Oscar for his role in biographical drama King Richard but his moment of glory has seemingly been overshadowed by the fiasco involving Rock and Pinkett-Smith.
Read: 'First time in his lifetime...': Will Smith's mother breaks silence on 2022 Oscars 'slapping' incident
Now, an old video of Smith has also surfaced on social media, in which he is seen slapping a person, seemingly a reporter, during the red carpet ceremony of his movie Men in Black 3's premiere. This incident reportedly happened in Moscow in 2012 when the person tried to kiss Smith. He pushed him away before slapping him with the back of his hand and walking away. Turned out the person was a prankster and not a reporter. Check out the old video of Smith slapping a person in public.
Read: Chris Rock, Bipasha Basu to Gauahar Khan: Celebs who were slapped publicly
Meanwhile, since the Oscars night, Smith has issued a statement apologising to Rock for his actions. He admitted that his behaviour was "unacceptable and inexcusable".
Smith had previously apologised to the Academy and fellow nominees for his misconduct when he took the stage to accept his best actor Oscar for "King Richard", but not to Rock.
The video of the 'slapgate' moment, that is trending on social media along with the names of Smith and Rock as hashtags, received a range of responses from the viewers. While some said that Smith besmirched his reputation, especially on his victory day as best actor, and that he must pay for his actions, others called out Rock for his crass remarks.
However, there was another group that criticised both Smith and Rock, saying neither did the right thing.
(With PTI inputs)
