Will Smith slapping Chris Rock after he made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith is no doubt the most talked about moment of the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday.
The physical assault occurred after the event’s host, 57, quipped about the ‘GI Jane’ shaven haircut of Smith’s wife Jada – who suffers from alopecia – leading the Hollywood star to furiously stride on-stage and slap him.
And while shockwaves are felt around the world of show business, MailOnline takes a look back at at other times Chris caused offence with his near-the-mark jokes.
Chris Rock’s most controversial jokes: As the comedian is SLAPPED by Will Smith at the Oscars for poking fun at wife Jada’s alopecia, MailOnline takes a look at the star’s most shocking remarks from ‘Asian discrimination’ to Whitney Houston drug digs
2018 – Admitting to having a porn addiction and being a bad husband on his Netflix special Chris Rock: Tamborine
Chris conceded that he was an ‘a**hole’ to his former wife and mother of two of his children Malaak Compton-Rock. He blamed the demise of their relationship on his addiction to porn – which also made him be ’15 minutes late everywhere’ – and his cheating.
‘I was not a good husband. I was f***ed-up. I was addicted to porn. I know, billion-dollar industry, just me, right? I was addicted to porn and, you know, I was 15 minutes late everywhere.’
‘What happens when you watch too much porn is you get desensitised.’
‘I’m a f***ing a**hole, man. I didn’t listen. I wasn’t kind. I cheated.
‘When guys cheat, we want something new. But then your woman finds out, and now she’s new. She’s never the same again. So, now you got new, but you got bad new. You got bad f***ing new, man.’
2016 – Belittling three children of east Asian descent on stage at the Oscars
Despite the controversy, Chris is certainly not known for biting his tongue and acknowledged cancel culture while presenting the 2019 New York Film Critics Circle Awards.
He told a star-studded audience: ‘If it was five years ago I could say something real offensive and funny right now but I can’t do that anymore, so hey!’
While presenting the ceremony back in 2016, the stand-up star introduced three children of east Asian descent who had put together the Oscars’ results on stage as ‘the accountants’ before dubbing them ‘Ming Zhu, Bao Ling, and David Moskowitz’.
Defiantly continuing with his jibes, he added: ‘If anyone is upset about that joke you can tweet about it on your phone, which was also made by these kids,’ referring to devices being produced in the China’s factories.
Oh dear: He said in 2019: ‘If it was five years ago I could say something real offensive and funny right now but I can’t do that anymore, so hey!’
Belittling: While presenting the ceremony back in 2016, the stand-up star introduced three children of east Asian descent who had put together the Oscars’ results on stage as ‘the accountants’ before dubbing them ‘Ming Zhu, Bao Ling, and David Moskowitz’ (pictured, far right, in 2016)
Ouch: During the same night, Chris said of the the #OscarsSoWhite movement: ‘You’re damn right Hollywood’s racist but no burning cross racist! It’s a different type of racist…’
Sandra Oh and George Takei, who are both of Asia descent, signed a letter which criticised the Academy for allowing joking about racial stereotypes.
2016 – Joking about racism in the 1960s during the #OscarsSoWhite movement
On the same night, Chris said of the #OscarsSoWhite movement: ‘You’re damn right Hollywood’s racist but no burning cross racist! It’s a different type of racist…’
Will and Jada had boycotted the prestigious ceremony since it marked the second consecutive year where people of colour had not been nominated.
The former SNL cast member continued on-stage: ‘Why this year? Because we had real things to protest [in the Sixties]. Too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won Best Cinematography.
Get ready for the memes: Will slapping Chris after he made a joke about the actor’s wife is no doubt the most talked about moment of the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday
Wow: The physical assault occurred after the event’s host, 57, quipped about the ‘GI Jane’ shaven haircut of Jada – who suffers from alopecia – leading the Hollywood star to furiously stride on-stage and attack him
‘When your Grandma’s swinging from a tree, it’s hard to really care about Best Documentary or Foreign Short.’
2016 – Poking fun at his late friend Whitney Houston’s admission of drug use
Chris’ comments are not always made to a live audience crowd. In the same year, he referred to his late friend Whitney Houston’s admission of drug use on Twitter.
He shared a meme which read: ‘Me sitting in a meeting that could’ve been an e-mail,’ along with a photo of the singer wearing sunglasses.
But it was his caption that caused a stir, which read: ‘Hurry up I got crack to smoke.’
Not funny: Chris (left) found himself at the centre of his fans wrath once again when a resurfaced video from 2011 saw him and the now-disgraced Louis CK (right), a white comedian who has since been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, repeatedly use the N-word
Incredulous: During HBO’s Talking Funny special at the beginning of the last decade, Louis can be heard saying: ‘You’re saying I’m a n*****?’ in front of a shocked Jerry Seinfeld and Ricky Gervais
It caused her ex husband Bobby Brown to comment: ‘During this time of women empowerment you chose to use your time to try and humiliate our QUEEN!!! I thought you was a friend of the family.’
The I Have Nothing songstress had confessed years prior that her former husband had ‘laced marijuana with rock cocaine’ and that her drug addiction worsened after became a global superstar from starring in The Bodyguard.
2011 – Encouraging white comedian Louis CK to use the N-word
Chris found himself at the centre of his fans wrath once again when a resurfaced video from 2011 saw him and the now-disgraced Louis CK, a white comedian who has since been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, repeatedly use the N-word.
During HBO’s Talking Funny special, Louis can be heard saying: ‘You’re saying I’m a n*****?’ in front of a shocked Jerry Seinfeld and Ricky Gervais.
Tragic: Chris’ controversial comments have not always been made in front of a crowd. In the same year, he referred to his late friend Whitney Houston’s admission of drug use
Defending: It caused her ex husband Bobby Brown to comment: ‘During this time of women empowerment you chose to use your time to try and humiliate our QUEEN!!! I thought you was a friend of the family’ (pictured in 2003)
Chris had called him the ‘blackest white guy’ he knows before adding, ‘Yes, you are the n****rest f****ing white man I have ever met.’
An uncomfortable Jerry soon made it clear he wouldn’t use the term anywhere.
2019 – Claiming mass shooters as likely white, alongside a meme of Betty White
And finally, the Grown Ups star posted another meme – this time about a mass shooting – claiming the gunman was likely to be white in 2019.
Alongside a photo of Betty White, which sounds like ‘Bet he white’ when read aloud, the text read: ‘The first thing people say when a mass shooting is announced.’
Embarrassing: And finally, the Grown Ups star posted another meme – this time about mass shooting – and claimed the gunman is likely white in 2019 alongside a photo of Betty White, which sounds like ‘Bet he white’ when read aloud
Will tearfully apologised for the attack after winning Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams, the father to tennis stars Venus and Serena.
He beat Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos, Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog, Andrew Garfield – tick, tick… BOOM!, and Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth.
It came just minutes after the awkward altercation in which he appeared to strike the comedian with an open hand. Chris has declined to press charges.
‘Love makes you do crazy things’, the rapper and actor admitted as he accepted his Best Actor Oscar statuette.
Oscars slap: Chris has declined to pursue criminal charges against Will after being struck by the actor on Sunday during the 94th Academy Awards in Los Angeles
He added that being a Hollywood star means you should be able to ‘have people disrespecting you and that ‘you just gotta smile and pretend it’s ok,’ he said.
But he added that he admired Richard Williams who ‘was a fierce defender of his family.’
‘I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people,’ he explained.
Smith went on to issue a tearful partial apology for his emotional outburst, but did not apologize to Rock. ‘I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment,’ he said.
‘Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father,’ said Smith.
Journalists covering the awards ceremony from the press area were instructed not to ask any attendees about Smith slapping Rock, according to BBC correspondent David Sillito.
Late Sunday night, the LAPD issued a statement saying that Rock had not filed a police report against Smith, but that if he chooses to do so, police will investigate.
‘LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program,’ the statement said. ‘The incident involved one individual slapping another.’
It was not immediately clear whether the Academy would penalize Smith in any way for his outburst.
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