The Oscars took a dramatic - and violent - turn on Sunday.
During the live show, Chris Rock and Will Smith appeared to get in a very real altercation on stage at the Dolby Theatre.
It all started after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith prior to presenting the award for Best Documentary. The comedian pointed to Jada and made a reference to her being in a sequel to “G.I. Jane” due to her shaved head.
While she was visibly unamused by the joke, it was Smith who responded by getting out of his seat and walking up toward Rock. At this point, many in the audience and at home probably believed it was another planned skit. While the audio was censored on the broadcast, Smith appeared to smack Rock and yelled: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth,” per Variety. He then uttered it again.
"I'm going to," Rock replied.
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While Rock continued with presenting "Summer of Soul" the Oscar for Best Documentary, it was unclear if he suffered any injuries.
Moments after the startling incident, Diddy took to the stage to present a tribute honoring the 50th anniversary of "The Godfather." He referenced the duo's beef by saying: “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve this like family. Right now we’re moving on with love. Everybody make some noise.”
Last year, Jada shared that she had shaved her head due to a years-long struggle with alopecia.
"Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something," she captioned a video on Instagram. "Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!"
Later in the evening, Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Venus and Serena Williams' father in "King Richard." While he didn't directly reference Rock by name during his acceptance speech, a teary-eyed Smith did say: “I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all of my fellow nominees.”
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences later released a statement saying: "The Academy does not condone violence of any form."
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