Will Smith appeared to be in excellent spirits as he cheered and danced the night away at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party amid claims that he will have a ‘public reconciliation’ with Chris Rock after slapping him on stage.
The Hollywood star, 53, did not appear to have a care in the world as he was seen grinning and dancing with his Oscar award clutched in one hand at the Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
Photographs show the actor proudly holding his Oscar in the air as he rapped to his hits Summertime and Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It for celebrity guests, who were eagerly filming his performance.
Happy: Will Smith appeared to be in excellent spirits as he cheered and danced the night away at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party
Partying: The Hollywood star, 53, did not appear to have a care in the world as he was seen grinning and dancing with his Oscar award
He appeared to be in jubilant spirits despite causing controversy at the 94th Academy Awards, following reports that he would have a ‘reconciliation’ with stand-up comic Chris.
Speaking at the Vanity Fair After Party, an NBC reporter claimed Chris and Will would have ‘some sort of public make-up’ or ‘reconciliation’ at the post-Oscars bash following the physical altercation.
And rapper P Diddy earlier offered to mediate between Chris and Will, as he said that the conflict would be solved but that they would ‘move on with love’ for the time being.
It comes after calls for him to be stripped of his Oscar accolade after he marched on stage at slapped Chris Rock during the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony.
Performance: Photographs show the actor proudly holding his Oscar in the air as he rapped for crowds, surrounded by celebrity guests filming him on their mobile phones
Friends? He appeared to be in jubilant spirits despite causing controversy at the 94th Academy Awards, following reports that he would have a ‘reconciliation’ with Chris
Dancing: An NBC reporter has claimed Chris and Will would have ‘some sort of public make-up’ or ‘reconciliation’ at the post-Oscars bash following the physical altercation
The Academy, in its code of conduct, is known to take a very a dim view of violence of any kind.
After the award ceremony was over it tweeted: ‘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 reestablished its Code of Conduct in 2017 during the Me Too Movement.
‘Academy membership is a privilege offered to only a select few within the global community of filmmakers,’ AMPAS CEO Dawn Hudson wrote to members following various scandals in the industry.
All smiles: Will appeared to be in excellent spirits after he slapped Chris Rock, who had made a joke about his wife Jada’s haircut
Celebrating: DJ Nice and Will Smith attend the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Conflict: It comes after calls for him to be stripped of his Oscar accolade after he marched on stage at slapped Chris Rock during the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony
Will won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the determined father who raised tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.
But the win was overshadowed as the actor earlier stormed on to the Oscars stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s haircut.
Chris upset Will when he compared his wife’s hair to that of G. I. Jane’s, who has a shaved head. Pinkett Smith suffers from hair loss condition alopecia.
After Will strode out on stage and slapped Chris with an open right hand, the comedian staggered and exclaimed ‘wow, Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.’
Rapping: Will did not seem to be influenced by the latest drama as he sang for crowds, who eagerly filmed him
Victory: Will won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the determined father who raised tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard
Will, visibly emotional, walked back to his seat in the audience and shouted: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.’
The exchange was muted on a delayed telecast in much of the US, but was aired in full to some international audiences.
Will was still allowed to make his acceptance speech and, with tears streaming down his face, he appeared to defend hitting Chris because he said he wanted to protect his family.
‘Love makes you do crazy things’, the rapper admitted as he accepted his Best Actor Oscar statuette.
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.
Could Will Smith be stripped of his Oscar? The Academy faces pressure to respond after the King Richard star broke the Academy’s Code of Conduct drawn up during Me Too Movement
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.
Will went on to issue a tearful partial apology for his emotional outburst, but did not apologize to Chris.
‘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.’
Fun times: Will appeared to be having an excellent time not long after the controversy at the post-Oscars party
Boogie: Will danced and did not shy away from celebrating his Oscars victory with his friends and family
Late on Sunday, the LAPD issued a statement saying that Chris had not filed a police report against Will, but that if he chooses to do so, police will investigate.
The jam-packed awards night also saw Jessica Chastain finally earned her first Academy Award in the Best Actress category for her work in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye.
The 45-year-old veteran actress achieved the honor over Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter, Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers, Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos, and Kristen Stewart – Spencer.
The biographical film she starred in was an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker as she played the titular role.
Coda – which also won all three awards it was nominated for – also made history as it became the first ever film from a streaming service to win highest honor Best Picture, which was a massive win for AppleTV+.
Defence: Earlier his acceptance speech, Will, with tears streaming down his face, he appeared to defend hitting Chris because he said he wanted to protect his family
United: Will was seen celebrating with his wife, after Chris upset Will when he compared Jada’s hair to that of G. I. Jane’s, who has a shaved head. She suffers from hair loss condition alopecia
It was victorious over Belfast (Focus Features), Don’t Look Up (Netflix), Drive My Car (Janus Films/Sideshow), Dune (Warner Bros), King Richard (Warner Bros), Licorice Pizza (MGM/United Artists Releasing), Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures), The Power Of The Dog (Netflix), and West Side Story (20th Century Studios).
The film is centered around a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) named Ruby (played by Emilia Jones) who is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music by wanting to go to Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
It was a major night for the movie as it earned all three of the categories it was nominated as the drama also won Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Troy Kotsur became the first ever deaf male actor to earn an acting Oscar 35 years after his co-star Marlee Matlin made history as she became the first ever deaf actress to win an Oscar in 1987.
Will they make-up? Will went on to issue a tearful partial apology for his emotional outburst, but did not apologize to Chris
Party: Will danced with friends and rapped along to his biggest hits including Summertime and Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills
He beat out heavy competition including: Ciaran Hinds – Belfast , Jesse Plemons – The Power Of The Dog, J.K Simmons – Being The Ricardos, and Kodi Smitt-McPhee – The Power Of The Dog.
Later on in the evening, Sian Heder earned Best Adapted screenplay for the film as she won over Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe), Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve), The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion).
Netflix’s Power Of The Dog led nominations with 12 nods including Best Picture, Best Director and recognition for all of its top actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
In a huge milestone during the night, its filmmaker Jane Campion, 67, became the third woman to earn the Best Director nod.
Campion, a previous nominee for 1993′s The Piano, also became the first woman to ever be nominated twice for Best Director.
Pals: Will and his wife Jada were joined by Trevor Noah at the Oscars party, with the comedian appearing to show his support for Will
Award: Will is facing calls to be stripped of his award. The Academy, in its code of conduct, is known to take a very a dim view of violence of any kind
Good spirits: Will danced the night away and was surrounded by celebrities who filmed him as he rapped along to his hit songs
Last year, Chloé Zhao became the second woman to ever win the award. Campion’s director of photography, Ari Wegner, also became the second woman ever nominated for Best Cinematography.
Dune followed closely behind with 10 nominations spread out largely in the technical categories that rewarded the gargantuan craft of Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, yet unexpectedly bypassed Villeneuve’s direction.
The Warner Bros. release debuted simultaneously in theaters and — against the strenuous objections of its director — on HBO Max.
Dune incredibly snapped up the gongs for Cinematography, Achievement in Sound, Production Design, Visual Effects, Best Soundtrack, Film Editing and Original Score.
Elsewhere, Rachel Zegler attended the ceremony after a controversy saw her not being invited to the ceremony despite her film being nominated for seven awards.
Grinning: Will did not appear to be affected by the Oscars drama as he proudly held his award
Friends: Will was given support by DJ Nice at the part, who was seen proudly hugging Will as he posed with his award
Oscars: Will held his Oscar in the air as he danced among celebrities and friends
Zegler, 20, created a bit of a firestorm on social media as she revealed over the weekend that she will not be in attendance at The Oscars despite being the lead – Maria Vasquez – for the Steven Spielberg directed flick.
She previously said on Instagram that she tried to go but ‘it doesn’t seem to be happening’ and that she will be rooting for West Side Story from her couch.
‘I hope some last minute miracle occurs and I can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, I guess,’ Zegler continued on Instagram. ‘Thanks for all the shock and outrage – I’m disappointed, too. But that’s OK. So proud of our movie.’
Her co-star Ariana DeBose snapped up the award for Best Supporting Actress while the film as a whole was nominated in categories including Best Picture, Directing, Achievement in Sound, Production Design, Costume Design and Cinematography.
Singing: Will did not shy away from singing and dancing to celebrate his win
Joyful: He caused controversy at the Oscars by slapping Chris Rock but it did not appear to affect his night of celebrations
Wife: He was seen posing with his wife Jada and comedian Trevor Noah at the event
It was also a night of great musical performances as Beyonce and Billie Eilish performed, but outspoken vaccine skeptic Van Morrison skipped Hollywood’s biggest night.
All three performers were nominated for Best Song along with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Diane Warren, whose songs will also be performed on the broadcast.
But it was Billie who snapped up the hotly-anticipated award for her Bond soundtrack No Time to Die.
Billie’s victory saw Lin-Manuel Miranda miss out on the coveted and rare EGOT status – winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award.
Pop superstar Beyonce’s ballad Be Alive was penned for tennis biopic King Richard, which stars Will Smith as the father of tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams.
Singing: Will was in excellent spirits as he danced the night away at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Embrace: Will was hugged by friends and celebrity supporters after the controversy
Van Morrison, who wrote Down to Joy for Kenneth Branagh’s black-and-white childhood drama Belfast, was invited to perform at the star-studded gala, he ‘will not attend the Oscars due to his tour schedule,’ organizers said ahead of the event.
Morrison’s high-profile criticism of pandemic restrictions – including three anti-lockdown ‘protest songs’ – and opposition to vaccine mandates had led to questions about whether he would have be welcomed at the Oscars.
Also performing at the Oscars was an all-star band including Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, and DJ D-Nice.
Elsewhere, A-list presenters took to the stage including Bill Murray, Lady Gaga, Kevin Costner, Samuel L. Jackson, Zoë Kravitz, Lupita Nyong’o. Anthony Hopkins, Lily James, Daniel Kaluuya, and Mila Kunis.
The Oscars, which returned to its regular venue of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California after being held at Union Station last year, was hosted by a trio of stars in Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes.
After going without a host over the last three years, the three women made history as it was the first time there was an all-female host line-up.
OSCARS 2022: WINNERS
BEST PICTURE
Belfast (Focus Features)
Coda (Apple) – WINNER
Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
Drive My Car (Janus Films/Sideshow)
Dune (Warner Bros)
King Richard (Warner Bros)
Licorice Pizza (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
The Power Of The Dog (Netflix)
West Side Story (20th Century Studios)
History: Coda became the first ever streaming film to win Best Picture as it upset The Power Of The Dog
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story – WINNER
Judi Dench – Belfast
Kirsten Dunst- The Power Of The Dog
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ciaran Hinds – Belfast
Troy Kotsur – Coda – WINNER
Jesse Plemons – The Power Of The Dog
J.K Simmons – Being The Ricardos
Kodi Smitt-McPhee – The Power Of The Dog
Amazing: Troy Kotsur became the first male actor to win an Oscar for Coda
COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella (Jenny Beavan) – WINNER
Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
Dune (Jacqueline West)
Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)
West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
Belfast
Dune – WINNER
No Time To Die
The Power Of The Dog
West Side Story
ORIGINAL SCORE
Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell)
Dune (Hans Zimmer) – WINNER
Encanto (Germaine Franco)
Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)
The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (Sian Heder) – WINNER
Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe)
Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve)
The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
Shining moment: Sian Heder earned Best Adapted screenplay for the film as it went three for three on the night
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast (Kenneth Branagh) – WINNER
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay & David Sirota)
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)
King Richard (Zach Baylin)
The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt)
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Affairs Of The Heart
Bestia
Box Ballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper – WINNER
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye – WINNER
On My Mind
Please Hold
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Drive My Car – WINNER
Flee
The Hand of God
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
The Worst Person in the World
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune (Zsuzsanna Sipos & Patrice Vermette) – WINNER
Nightmare Alley (Tamara Deverell & Shane Vieau)
The Power of the Dog (Grant Major & Amber Richards)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Stefan Dechant & Nancy Haigh)
West Side Story (Rena DeAngelo & Adam Stockhausen)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield – tick, tick… BOOM!
Will Smith – King Richard – WINNER
Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye – WINNER
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart – Spencer
All eyes on her: Jessica Chastain finally won her first Best Actress trophy for her titular role in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye
DIRECTING
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog – WINNER
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story
FILM EDITING
Don’t Look Up (Hank Corwin)
Dune (Joe Walker) – WINNER
King Richard (Pamela Martin)
The Power of the Dog (Peter Sciberras)
Tick, Tick… Boom! (Myron Kerstein & Andrew Weisblum)
MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye – WINNER
House Of Gucci
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Encanto – WINNER
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells VS The Machine
Raya And The Lost Dragon
ORIGINAL SONG
Be Alive — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Darius Scott (King Richard)
Dos Oruguitas — Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)
Down to Joy — Van Morrison (Belfast)
No Time to Die — Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell (No Time to Die) – WINNER
Somehow You Do— Diane Warren (Four Good Days)
Not a bad guy: Billie Eilish and brother FINNEAS earned Best Original Song for No Time To Die from the James Bond film of the same name
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball – WINNER
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul (Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) – WINNER
Writing with Fire
VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune – WINNER
Free Guy
No Time To Die
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Epic: Dune swept the technical awards as Greig Fraser is shown accepting the Best Cinematography gong
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune (Greig Fraser) – WINNER
Nightmare Alley (Dan Lausten)
The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Bruno Delbonnel)
West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)
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