Will Smith hits Chris Rock at Oscars

Things took an ugly turn at the latest Oscars ceremony.

Actor Will Smith who was nominated in the Best Actor category for King Richard at this year's Oscars has hit Chris Rock in front of a live audience when the latter was delivering a monologue about films of 2021 in his trademark comedy style.

Clips of Smith walking up to the stage and slapping Rock in the face are going viral over social media. The intense reaction from Smith was reportedly provoked by a joke Rock made on Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.

While the audio was muted for a period of time, outlets have reported that Smith said, "keep my wife’s name out of your f—mouth.”

In his acceptance speech after winning the Best Actor award, Smith said, "I want to apologise to Academy, I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I am not crying for winning an award. It's not about winning an award for me. Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”