Denzel Washington, Bradley Cooper, and others rushed to comfort Smith and wife Jada Pinkett-Smith after the altercation.
Will Smith was seemingly spotted consulting with his PR rep during an Oscars commercial break after what appeared to be an unscripted confrontation involving a slap between him and Chris Rock. Ramin Setoodeh, the executive editor of Variety, tweeted a video of what took place right after the incident, writing, “Will Smith’s publicist came over and talked to him at the last commercial. There was also someone standing next to Jada.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s awards columnist Scott Feinberg also said, “During the commercial break, Will Smith is pulled aside and comforted by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry, who motion for him to brush it off. Will appears to wipe tears from his eyes as he sits back down with Jada, with Denzel comforting Jada and Will’s rep by his side.”
Bradley Cooper was also spotted talking with Smith after the altercation.
The incident between Smith and Rock occurred after Rock made an inappropriate joke comparing Jada Pinkett-Smith to G.I. Jane. The King Richard actor responded by walking on stage and seemingly slapping Rock, before yelling at him to “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth.”
Smith later addressed the incident in his incredibly emotional Oscars acceptance speech for Best Actor. “Denzel said to me a few minutes ago, he said, ‘At your highest moment, be careful, because that’s when the devil comes for you,'” Smith said. “It’s like … I want to be a vessel for love. I want to say, thank you to Venus and to Serena and the entire Williams family. That’s what I want to do; I want to be an ambassador of that kind of love and care and concern. I want to apologize to the Academy; I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. Um, this is a beautiful moment. And I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me; it’s about being able to shine a light on all the people [in the cast] … Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that Rock will not be pressing charges against Smith for the altercation.
Source: Cosmopolitan US
