The Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock meme originates from the 94th Academy Awards show that aired live on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Will Smith, an American actor, slapped comedian and actor Chris Rock for a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith for her short hairstyle (due to being diagnosed with alopecia, a hair loss condition). The slap in the Oscars 2022 was broadcasted live on television and the exchanges were censored in many parts of the world. Soon after, the internet began to create image macros in which the subjects Will Smith, Chris Rock, and Jada Pinkett Smith, were named in order to generate a funny interpretation and became a popular meme template. Also, there have been many comparisons being drawn about its resemblance to the Batman Slapping Robin meme.
Before you read ahead and learn more, use our Will Smith Chris Rock meme generator at the end to create funny memes using this format.
Origin
Chris Rock joked to Jada Pinkett Smith on stage when presenting the prize for Best Documentary Feature that he was looking forward to a sequel to G.I. Jane, a reference to her short hairstyle. Pinkett also suffers from alopecia, which has caused her to lose some of her hair. Will Smith, Pinkett Smith’s husband, who initially laughed at the G.I. Jane joke, rose from his seat near the stage after seeing Jada roll her eyes. The winner of the best actor award at Oscars 2022 walked up to Rock and punched him in the face. “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” Smith exclaimed repeatedly after resuming his seat. To this, Chris Rock replied, “I am going to, okay.”
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Apology
Will Smith, through emotions, said in his acceptance speech: “I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people,” He added, “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. Love will make you do crazy things.” In the loaded speech, he said, “In this time in my life, at this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. … I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.” Will Smith also disclosed what Denzel Washington, another Best Actor contender, told him during the commercial break following the confrontation with Chris Rock. “At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.”
A day later, Will Smith apologized to Chris Rock in an Instagram post and termed himself as ‘A work in progress.’
Spread
On March 28th, 2022, the Culture Crave Twitter handle posted the censored as well the uncensored video of the incident. The uncensored version received more than 50 million views, 9k likes and more than 2k retweets within 12 hours. A few minutes later, a Twitter user @hailsmccloskey posted the first meme using the character Cassie Howard of the American TV series Euphoria. A minuter, later user @LilliamUribe noted the reaction of actress Lupita Nyong’o who was sitting behind Smith and Jada. Twitter user @passivefool created the first macro image of the screenshot on Disruptive Innovation. In the crypto world, in less than 24 hours of the event, a newly-created cryptocurrency called Will Smith Slap Token has seen a massive surge. The Ethereum ETH/USD-based Will Smith Inu coin “exploded” to a 10,000% rally following the live assault in the Oscars, and amassed a $3.65 million trading volume.
Examples
Chris Rock’s upcoming comedy tour has seen a spike in ticket sales following Will Smith’s slap at the Oscars. Well, that’s some cool marketing strategy for comedians.
If Will Smith can hit Chris Rock, just imagine what Kanye West is planning for Pete Davidson. lol
Everyone talking about Will Smith but the man was Chris Rock. This man could have taken the Will Smith low road but stood there like a real man, composed himself, remained professional and chose not to embarrass minorities anymore than what had already happened.
Will Smith apologized but where is Chris Rock’ apology for his inappropriate jokes about Jada? Yes, violence is never the answer but Will repeatedly asked him to stop and sometimes a slap is what you need to get a bully’s attention!
Will Smith smacked a mf and won an oscar 10 minutes later that was some legendary shit.
Will Smith saying he wants to be a vessel for love fifteen minutes after hitting a guy live on international TV and then getting a standing ovation is just an incredible summation of what Hollywood’s all about.
Will Smith will not tolerate other men making jokes about his wife. He will however tolerate other men having sex with his wife. This is a man of principle.
These slap memes are fun but the people justifying Will Smith’s act by saying he was “defending his wife” is a real sign of how steeped in toxic masculinity our culture is.
Will Smith was laughing up until Jada started eye-rolling. I can’t believe he overshadowed his historical win with violence just because his wife got offended over a joke. Laughing stock this couple!
Boxer, Jake Paul offers Will Smith and Chris Rock $15m each to fight following the Oscars slap. Like this comment if you want to see this.
I bet Impractical Jokers forced Will Smith to smack Chris as a challenge.
We don’t talk about Jada, no, no, no! We don’t talk about Jada…
Oscars viewership grew by 511,000 viewers in the 15-minute span that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, and spiked again by 614,000 viewers during his acceptance speech. Can’t believe that it was not staged.