Explained: Why Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, how the actor made a return; will Chris address the infamous incident?

Will Smith ’s slap to Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars shook the globe and social media with all sorts of reactions pouring in. A year later, Smith made his return to the stage and Rock could open up on that infamous incident soon. Here’s decoding the timeline of what happened, why it happened, and what is likely to happen: Why Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars!

VIA JAPANESE TELEVISION: The uncensored exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock pic.twitter.com/j0Z184ZyXa

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 28, 2022

Will Smith won the Best Actor award for  _King Richard_ , but that is not all he will be remembered for at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony.

A ceremony that steadily maintained a buoyant spirit was rocked by an unbelievable exchange after Will Smith took offense to a joke made by Chris Rock about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

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After Rock joked to Smith that he was looking forward to a sequel to G.I. Jane, Smith stood up from his seat near the stage, strode up to Rock, and slapped him. After sitting back down, Smith shouted at Rock to “keep my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth.” When Rock, who joked about Jada Pinkett Smith while hosting the Oscars in 2016, protested that it was just a GI Jane joke, Smith repeated the same line.

Smith’s apology

The day after  slapping Chris Rock  on the Oscars stage and upending the  94th Academy Awards , Will Smith issued an apology to the comedian, to the academy and to viewers at home, saying he was “out of line” and that his actions are “not indicative of the man I want to be.” Later in the day, Smith gave a stronger apology than he did in his best actor acceptance speech, which notably hadn’t included an apology to Rock.

“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” said Smith in a  statement issued by his publicist and posted on Instagram. “My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally. I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.” Will Smith returns [caption id=“attachment_12237932” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Will Smith[/caption] A year after the the Chris Rock slap-gate fiasco at the Oscars 2022,  Will Smith  made a return to the stage to collect an award for his film Emancipation. The actor was awarded the Beacon Award at the African American Film Critics Association Awards for his performance in the film. Talking about the same, Smith said, “Emancipation was the most individual difficult film of my entire career. It’s really difficult to transport a modern mind to that time period. It’s difficult to imagine that level of inhumanity.” Will Chris Rock speak up? Chris Rock ’s live Netflix special will air just a week before the Oscars, the streamer said Tuesday, raising expectations that the comedian will address the shocking moment he was slapped by Will Smith during last year’s Hollywood award show. This Saturday evening “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” will become the first-ever event shown in real time on Netflix, accompanied by pre-and post-show entertainment featuring celebrities from Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schumer to Sir Paul McCartney and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Netflix did not comment on the material of Rock’s main show, but the comic has spent much of the last year touring stand-up venues around the world with a routine that has included jokes about “The Slap.” Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.