The 94th Academy Awards ceremony brought its own drama to L.A’s Dolby Theater on Sunday night.
Several films garnered multiple Oscars, including “Dune,” with six wins in technical categories, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” for which Jessica Chastain won Best Actress, and Apple TV+’s “CODA” – the first film from a streaming service to nab Best Picture, according to Deadline.
Jane Campion took home Best Director for “The Power of the Dog” as only the third woman to ever win in the directing category, and Ariana DeBose won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in “West Side Story,” making history as the first openly queer woman of color to win an Oscar for acting. Among the evening’s other winners were Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, whose Bond theme “No Time to Die” was named Best Original Song. “Encanto” won Best Animated Feature and Japanese film “Drive My Car” received the Oscar for International Feature.
But the ceremony was ultimately overshadowed by a frenzied on-stage altercation between Chris Rock and Will Smith. Presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith starring in “G.I. Jane 2.” Pinkett Smith, who has struggled with hair loss due to the autoimmune condition alopecia, rolled her eyes at the allusion to Demi Moore’s iconic shaved head in the 1997 film, but her husband had a more explosive reaction.
Will Smith stormed the stage, slapping Chris Rock across the face on live TV – the sound of the impact magnified by surrounding microphones. “Keep my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth!” Smith yelled as he returned to his seat, according to Variety. The audience remained stunned as Rock tried to recover his composure before presenting Questlove with the Best Documentary Feature award for “Summer of Soul.”
“Oh wow. Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” Rock said. “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
Smith returned to the stage about 40 minutes later to accept the Oscar for Best Actor for his starring role as the father of Venus and Serena Williams in “King Richard.” He was still visibly rattled with tears streaming down his face as he spoke, apologizing to the Academy and his fellow nominees, though never to Rock.
