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March 27 (UPI) — Will Smith — who was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his role in King Richard — appeared to hit Chris Rock in the face after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, during the 94th annual Academy Awards on Sunday night. The incident occurred as Rock was announcing the nominees for Best Documentary.
“Wow! Will Smith just smacked the [expletive] out of me,” Rock said as Smith returned to his seat.
“Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth,” Smith yelled at Rock as the crowd laughed nervously.
“Wow! Dude, it was a ‘G.I. Jane’ joke,” Rock said, referring to Pinkett Smith’s close-cropped hairdo.
“Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth,” Smith repeated.
“I’m going to, OK? OK?” Rock said, smiling and shaking his head. “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
Pinkett Smith has been candid about her battle with the hair-loss condition alopecia and has been sporting a shaved head in recent months.
UPI has contacted the Academy of Motion Pictures for comment.
