Best Actor winner Will Smith hits Chris Rock at Oscars

Best Actor winner Will Smith appears to have hit Chris Rock in the face on stage at the Oscars.

The 57-year-old comedian was on stage at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre to present the Best Documentary Feature prize on Sunday (March 27) when he mocked some of the famous faces in the crowd, and Will seemingly took offence when Chris poked fun at his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith's shaven-headed look.

Chris said: "Jada, love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see it.'"

Although Will laughed at first, Jada looked unimpressed and Will then walked to the stage, seemingly hit the presenter and walked away again.

Chris said: "Oh wow. Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me."

Will, 53, then shouted from his seat: "Take my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."

Chris said: "Wow dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke."

The King Richard actor then again said: "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."

[embed]https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1508271453656870916[/embed]

According to Variety, Will's publicist went up to him during the commercial break. Veteran actor Denzel Washington also had a word privately with him.

Denzel Washington and Jada Pinkett Smith speak with Will Smith after he hit Chris Rock during the #Oscars https://t.co/urNnBpYTiu
📷 @brian_photog pic.twitter.com/dYEfxJe9Al

— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) March 28, 2022

Last year, Jada announced her decision to shave her head after struggling with alopecia. In an Instagram post, she wrote: "Now at this point, I can only laugh… y'all know I've been struggling with alopecia. Just all of a sudden, one day…it just showed up like that. Now, this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So, I thought I'd just share it so y'all not asking any questions."

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It's unclear whether the incident was staged but Variety has reached out to ABC.

During his acceptance speech, Will also apologised to the Academy and his fellow nominees. He said he wasn't crying because he won an award.

ALSO READ: 'Love will make you do crazy things', Will Smith says in Oscar acceptance speech after hitting presenter Chris Rock

He ended his speech by saying that he hoped the Academy will invite him back.

After the altercation, Chris appeared stunned as he said: "I'm going to okay... I'll keep going? That was, er, the greatest night in the history of television. Okay.

"So we are here to give a documentary out, to give an Oscar for Best Documentary.

"Now the beauty of documentaries, they make you feel smart, like you read a book or something but all you really did was get high and watch Netflix. So here we go, the nominees are..."

Summer of Soul was then announced as the winner of the category.

ALSO READ: Oscars organiser says it does not condone violence

Additional reporting by Bryan Lim.

editor@asiaone.com