Will Smith dances at Oscars after-party; what happened behind the scenes after he slapped Chris Rock

Many labelled it as "the slap heard around the world" — not entirely untrue as the Oscars was broadcast globally yesterday (March 28) and international audiences bore witness to Will Smith hitting Chris Rock on live television.

What transpired subsequently was mass confusion as media publications rushed to piece together what happened and whether it was staged.

In fact, Variety was one of the few who quickly shared details on what went down during the commercial breaks after the altercation.

Now that the dust has settled — with apologies from Will and the Academy launching a review of his behaviour — more behind-the-scenes details have emerged.

'What the f*** is happening?'

According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), a source said the green room went "very quiet" when the altercation happened.

A-listers like Jake Gyllenhaal, Zoe Kravitz, Kevin Costner, Anthony Hopkins, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman and John Travolta were reportedly present, along with tennis stars Serena Williams and Venus Williams and Will's publicist Meredith O'Sullivan Wasson.

Another source said: "Everyone was like, 'What the f*** is happening?! Did that just happen?! Oh my God!' People were gasping."

Chris' manager Jason Weinberg was observed sitting stunned before going to speak with the Los Angeles Police Department.

ALSO READ: Will Smith apologises to Chris Rock: 'I was out of line and I was wrong'

One of THR's sources also shared that once the show went to commercial, the Academy's outgoing CEO Dawn Hudson and president David Rubin, accompanied by the Academy's press spokesperson, went backstage and looked "as serious as could be". They then "walked very, very fast into a private room with Meredith".

Press questions were further restricted

A Vanity Fair article shed some light on the aftermath with Chris, who was spotted backstage with a "visibly red cheek" and he tried to "play it off... by making a joke about one of Will Smith's other Oscar-nominated roles".

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Chris apparently said: "That's the only time you get hit by Muhammad Ali and it doesn't leave a scratch."

Meanwhile, in the audience, they reported that people "flocked to the Smiths at every commercial break", including Will's publicist, Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry.

While Oscar winners typically give an interview backstage in the press room, Will did not do so after his Best Actor win.

The atmosphere had also changed in the press room when a representative for the Academy further restricted questions from the press — they were instructed not to ask people about categories "that were not their own".

However, it was reported by Vanity Fair that someone managed to sneak in a question about the incident to Best Actress winner Jessica Chastain but it was cut off by the staff when she attempted to answer it.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXlBQ9MHrlA&ab_channel=Variety[/embed]

Will spotted dancing at the Vanity Fair party

Lastly, Will was spotted smiling and dancing at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party and rapping along to his own song by The New Yorker's Michael Schulman who wrote that attendees had a lot of opinions about what went down.

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Playwright Jeremy O. Harris told Schulman: "It was the slap heard round the world! It was the gayest thing Will Smith has ever done. It was giving ballroom."

A famous comedian, who was not identified, remarked to Schulman that the fight was "a sign of how thin-skinned and vulnerable celebrities had become these days". The comedian added: "Tonight was the purest example of how much this place has lost its f***ing mind. Los Angeles is like Gotham City right now."

Schulman himself mused that over the course of one night, Will had "[assaulted] someone on live television, rip his soul open while winning an Oscar, and write himself into Academy Awards history".

"Had we witnessed a psychological breakdown? A husband defending his wife? A jerk? A victim? A monster? In a Hollywood ending that seemed too dark and surreal to be true, he appeared to be having the time of his life," wrote Schulman.

bryanlim@asiaone.com