NBA players react to Will Smith punching Chris Rock at the Oscars / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: REUTERS - Scanpix Credit REUTERS - Scanpix

The Oscars each year get a significant amount of attention. However, this year it was different. The Academy Awards ceremony received as much attention as probably ever. Why? Will Smith punched Chris Rock on live air.

Stand-up comedian Chris Rock was the host of the ceremony and, as a result, cracked various jokes throughout the evening. He was presenting an award when he made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, appearing in a GI Jane sequel.

"Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2 — can't wait to see it, alright," Rock said.

GI Jane is a 1997 movie featuring Demi Moore, who played a Navy SEAL and shaved her head for the role. Pinkett Smith, who has hair loss, looked visibly annoyed at Rock's comment when the camera cut to her reaction.

Then, Will Smith went onto the stage and punched Rock straight to the face with what looked to be an open palm. It was first met with laughter, but Smith did not back down.

"Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth," the superstar actor shouted at the host. "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."

The audience was left visibly stunned.

Pinkett Smith has spoken publicly about living with a form of alopecia, an autoimmune condition that causes hair loss.The 50-year-old actress first revealed her diagnosis in 2018.In December 2021, she shared a video on Instagram explaining she had shaved her head because she could not hide the drastic changes to her hair.

Numerous NBA players reacted to the now-infamous event. Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay expressed what a lot of people were probably thinking at home, saying "Shout out to Chris Rock for not rubbing his face after the smack. I know he wanted to."

The players seemed to side with Will Smith in the situation, commenting about the situation having a real-life resemblance.

NBA world's reaction to the situation:

Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.