The star-studded crowd at Monday's Academy Awards was left bemused after Will Smith took to the stage to slap Chris Rock after the comedian joked about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock took to the stage to announce an award and picked out Will Smith's wife from the crowd.
"Jada I love you, can't wait to see G.I Jane 2," he joked, referring to the fact that Demi Moore had a shaved head in the G.I Jane film.
Pinkett Smith has alopecia.
Smith laughed at the joke to begin with but then walked onto the stage and appeared to slap Rock hard across the face with an open palm.
"Wow, Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me," Rock then joked.
Will then yelled at the comedian after retaking his seat.
"Keep my wife's name out of your f*****g mouth," Smith yelled twice at Rock.
After a stunned pause Rock then announced the Best Documentary award.
The moment shocked the Dolby Theatre audience and viewers at home. At the commercial break, presenter Daniel Kaluuya came up to hug Smith, and Denzel Washington escorted him to the side of the stage. The two talked and hugged and Tyler Perry came over to talk as well.
The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that it was aware of the incident.
“The incident involved one individual slapping another,” the statement read. “The individual involved has declined to file a police report. If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.”
Smith, who plays Venus and Serena Williams' father in King Richard, later in the show won best actor, his first Oscar. It meant Smith again took the stage shortly after what seemed likely to be one of the most infamous moments in Academy Awards history.
READ MORE: Oscars: Will Smith wins best actor, moments after Chris Rock saga
He said he was "defending his family" after appearing to slap Chris Rock for a joke. (Source: 1News)
Smith's acceptance speech vacillated between defence and apology.
"Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family," Smith said in his first remarks. He continued: “I'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.”
Williams shared what Washington told him: “At your highest moment, be careful because that’s when the devil comes for you.”
Ultimately, Smith apologised to the academy and to his fellow nominees.
“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father” said Smith. “But love will make you do crazy things.”
Up until that moment, the show had been running fairly smoothly. Ariana DeBose became the first Afro-Latina to win an Academy Award for supporting actress, while Troy Kotsur became the first deaf actor to win an acting award.
Jane Campion won the Oscar best director for “The Power of the Dog,” her open-plains psychodrama that twisted and upended western conventions. Campion, who had been the first woman ever twice nominated in the category (previously for 1993’s “The Piano”), is only the third woman to win best director. It’s also the first time the directing award has ever gone to women in back-to-back years, after “Nomadland” filmmaker Chloé Zhao won last year.
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