Oscars 2022: Will Smith's violent outburst interrupts an otherwise uplifting ceremony

Some shows just pack a punch, don’t they? In a year where Covid, a lack of in-person film events and declining audience ratings may have left interest in the Academy Awards broadcast at an all-time low, some unexpected, upsetting drama and some surprise wins will be sure to have people talking at the water cooler this morning.

After three years of a hostless Oscars, Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes took over hosting duties, quipping about pay equality and saying that the three of them were “cheaper than one man.” Throughout the broadcast, they poked fun at Leonardo DiCaprio’s infamously young girlfriends; Flordia’s homophobic ‘Don’t say Gay’ bill; and the controversy surrounding the Golden Globes and the notoriously racist, insular and easily influenced Hollywood Foreign Press, saying that the Golden Globes would now be relegated to the Memorium package.

But the hosts would not offer any moment more memorable than that between comedian Chris Rock and actor Will Smith. Rock, who came on stage to present the award for Best Documentary and used his time to poke fun at members of the audience, including referring to married couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem both being nominated and joking that if Cruz lost, Bardem would have to also lose in order to keep the peace at home. Rock then thew a joke at actress and presenter Jada Pinkett Smith, which did not go down as well, to say the least. Pinkett, who has spoken about her struggles with alopecia, was sporting a buzzcut for the ceremony, and Rock quipped that he was looking forward to seeing her in G.I. Jane 2; the original film having starred Demi Moore sporting a similarly shorn head. When Rock made the joke, Pinkett rolled her eyes and her husband Will Smith initially appeared to laugh – but Smith then strode onstage towards Rock, who laughed, assuming Smith was playing a joke. However. Smith then hit a stunned Chris Rock, before returning to his seat, shouting “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!”

The moment shocked everyone in the Dolby Theatre, with a visibly shaken Rock joking that “That was the greatest night in the history of television,” before awkwardly returning to presenting best documentary, which deservedly went to Questlove's Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Was Not Televised), one of Hot Press’ Films of The Year 2021.

But the moment cast a palpable shadow over the night’s proceedings. Reportedly during the commercial break, attendees were trying to manage the situation, with actor Daniel Kaluuya hugging Smith, and Denzel Washington escorting him to the side of the stage, with Tyler Perry coming over to speak to the actor.

The completely unwarranted violent outburst came as a surprise, as Smith is known for being affable and easy-going, and also overshadowed Smith’s own success that night, as he received his first Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Serena and Venus Williams’ father in the film King Richard. A tearful Smith offered a vague apology to the Academy – but notably not Rock – and offered up some paltry justifications for this actions.

“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family," Smith said in his first remarks. Smith then shared what Washington told him, saying “At your highest moment, be careful because that’s when the devil comes for you.” With the Williams sisters in attendance, I doubt they loved having their father used as an excuse for a man to get violent in front of millions of viewers, but Smith continued. “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father” said Smith, chuckling. “But love will make you do crazy things.”

After the show, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences issued a statement saying it “does not condone violence of any form”, and it was revealed that Rock had declined to press any charges against Smith.

The Academy does not condone violence of any form.

Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022

It’s a shame that Smith’s violent display of toxic masculinity overshadowed some of the night’s lighter and more inspiring moments, detracting from the actors and creatives who used their time on the Dolby Theatre stage to inspire and connect with others. The Ukrainian-born actress Mila Kunis led a 30-second moment of silence for Ukraine. Ariana DeBose made history as the first Afro-Latina and the first openly queer person to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for her role in West Side Story. DeBose recievd her award sixty years after her predecessor, Rita Morena, won the statuette.

On stage, an emotional DeBose said: “Now you see why Anita says I want to be in America, because even in this weary world that we live in dreams do come true and that’s a heartening thing right now." The actress also paid tribute to Moreno, saying she "paved the way for tonnes of Anitas like me". Concluding her speech, DeBose said, "Imagine this little girl in the back seat of a white Ford Focus. Look into her eyes, you see an openly queer woman of colour, an Afro-Latina, who found her strength in life through art. And that’s what we’re here to celebrate. So to anyone who has ever questioned your identity or you find yourself living in the grey spaces…I promise you this, there is indeed a place for us."

DeBose beat out Irish actress Jessie Buckley who was also nominated for her performance in The Lost Daughter.

Every shade of red. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/QaI3nZXMEl

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 27, 2022

Jessica Chastain also used her platform to speak about equality and LGBTQ rights, after receiving the Best Actress Oscar for The Eyes Of Tammy Faye. Chastain used her speech to implicitly address the Republican’s recent backlash against LGBTQ rights, including Florida’s hugely controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill which limits classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom – essentially preventing educators from acknowledge LGBTQ identities, experiences, forcing students to closet themselves, and outing students to their parents without the students’ permission, even if such a disclosure would be harmful. On stage Chastain said “She said: "Right now, we are coming out of some difficult times that have been filled with trauma and isolation, So many people out there feel hopelessness and they feel alone and suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States. It has touched many families, it has touched mine, and especially members of the LGBTQ community who oftentimes feel out of place with their peers. We are faced with discriminatory and bigoted legislation that is sweeping our country with the only goal of further dividing us. There is violence and hate crimes being perpetrated on innocent civilians all over the world." She added, "For any of you out there who do feel hopeless or alone I want you to know you are unconditionally loved for the uniqueness that is you."

Chastain and DeBose were only two of the women who won big last night, with Jane Campion winning best Director for her Western psychodrama The Power Of the Dog, which addresses sexual repression and toxic masculinity. Campion, who was the first woman ever twice nominated in the category, having also been nominated for 1993’s The Piano, is only the third woman to win best director, after Katheryn Bigelow won for The Hurt Locker in 2010 and Chloe Zhao won last year for Nomadland. Only four other women directors have even been nominated for a directing Oscar, including Lina Wertmüller, (Seven Beauties, 1977), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, 2003), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, 2017) and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, 2020.)

But despite Campion’s win and its twelve nominations, The Power Of the Dog did not win Best Picture, which surprisingly went to Apple TV's CODA, about a teenager who is the only hearing member of a deaf family. Written and directed by Sian Heder, who was known for writing for Orange Is the New Black and directing Tallulah with Eliot Page and Allison Janney, CODA has become the first streaming film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Troy Kotsur won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film, delivering an emotional speech in American Sign Language in which he thanked the deaf theatre stages where he had worked and told the deaf community, “This is our moment.” The audience in the Dolby rose and waved their hands in the air, the ASL form of applause. Kotsur is only the second deaf person ever to win an Oscar, following in the footsteps of his CODA co-star Marlee Matlin, who won in 1987 for Children Of A Lesser God.

In other categories, Belfast was named best original Screenplay, earning Kenneth Branagh his first Oscar in a decades-long career. In his speech, he thanked the Academy for rewarding his autobiographical coming-of-age film set at the advent of the Troubles, dexribign the film as “the search for hope and joy in face of violence and loss”. He paid tribute to his family, the people of Belfast and the whole island of Ireland in his acceptance speech. "This is an enormous honour for my family and a great tribute to an amazing city and fantastic people,” said the actor, adding “We will never forget all of those lost in the heartbreaking, heartwarming, human story of that amazing city of Belfast on the fabulous island of Ireland.”

Encanto was named Best Animated Feature, Japan’s Drive My Car won Best International Feature, and sibling Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell won the Oscar for best Original Song for ‘No Time To Die’ from the James Bond film of the same name.