Film News: Will Smith Slap on Chris Rock Mars CODA Best Picture Oscar

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CHICAGO – Usually these Oscar wrap ups are ordinary. But in a shocking event at the 94th Academy Awards, eventual Best Actor winner Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Oh and by the way, CODA wins the Best Picture in a historic honor.

The Chris Rock joke was in reference to Jada’s hairline … apparently he didn’t know that she had an Alopecia diagnosis, which includes hair loss. He asked, referring to her bare scalp, if she was to star in G.I. JANE 2 (Ed. Note: I thought she’d been a young recruit in G.I. JANE the original). Will Smith took exception to the remark, walked on stage and slapped Rock. The ABC-TV feed bleeped the remarks, but international feeds caught Rock reacting by saying, “Will Smith just smacked the sh*t out of me.” Smith, not done, shouted from his seat “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.” Rock finally said, “I’m going to.” He then gave the Oscar for BEST DOCUMENTARY (“Summer of Soul ( … Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”).

The Slap Seen Round the World
Photo credit: ABC-TV

Besides the BEST PICTURE win for CODA – a feel-good film that featured hearing and deaf actors – and BEST ACTOR Will Smith for “King Richard,” Jessica Chastain took home BEST ACTRESS for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” Jane Campion got the third Oscar in history for female filmmakers, winning BEST DIRECTOR for “The Power of the Dog.”

Ariana DeBose proved her triple threat credibility and won BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS for “West Side Story” (repeating Rita Moreno’s win for the same role/category 60 years earlier). And in arguably the most emotional speech of the night, Troy Kotsur won BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR by portraying a deaf Dad in “CODA” (he’s hearing impaired in real life). His sign language speech included an elegy to his father, and the acknowledgement that the award was dedicated to the impaired community. “Dune” won six awards, for BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, EDITING, VISUAL EFFECTS, PRODUCTION DESIGN, CINEMATOGRAPHY and SOUND.

But it will be The Slap that will be most remembered.

Complete list of winners …

BEST PICTURE 

CODA



BEST ACTRESS 

Jessica Chastain THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE



BEST ACTOR 

Will Smith KING RICHARD



BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Ariana DeBose WEST SIDE STORY



BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 

Troy Kotsur CODA

BEST DIRECTOR

Jane Campion THE POWER OF THE DOG

CODA is Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards
Photo credit: Apple TV+

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 

CODA screenplay by Siân Heder

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

BELFAST by Kenneth Branagh

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM 

ENCANTO

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

SUMMER OF SOUL ( … OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED),” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

DRIVE MY CAR (Japan)

ORIGINAL SONG 

“No Time To Die” from NO TIME TO DIE music/lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell



ORIGINAL SCORE

DUNE Hans Zimmer



ANIMATED SHORT 

THE WINDSHIELD WIPER Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

LIVE ACTION SHORT

THE LONG GOODBYE Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed



DOCUMENTARY SHORT 

THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL Ben Proudfoot



FILM EDITING

DUNE Joe Walker



SOUND

DUNE



PRODUCTION DESIGN

DUNE



VISUAL EFFECTS 

DUNE



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

DUNE Greig Fraser



MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING

THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

COSTUME DESIGN

CRUELLA Jenny Beavan


By PATRICK McDONALD Writer, Editorial Coordinator HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com