From a family-friendly rapper to a stand-up comedian in “The Fresh Prince of Bel AIr” and later a box office giant, Smith has built his career on being loved on and off screen.
And that’s one reason many initially praised him for being his wife’s “protector” when he hit the rock band after the comedian and actor made an Oscar-stage joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s closely cropped hair.
“Jada I love you,” GI Jane 2 said Rock while presenting the award for Best Documentary. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Smith then walked onto the stage, hit Rock, returned to his seat and yelled in the comic “Keep my wife’s name out of your damn mouth!”
Smith is supposed to be up after winning Best Actor – which came moments after the slap – for his role in “King Richard.”
But that was overshadowed by Smith’s actions that night and could cause studios to guess work with the actor, or at least delay planned projects.
He hasn’t said his words fully yet
Three days after the controversial incident, Rock has moved on to a different stage.
During a comedy show about “The Ego Death Tour” at Boston’s Wilbur Theater, he briefly addressed the slap.
“I don’t have much sarcasm about what happened so if you came to hear it, I loved an entire show I wrote before this weekend,” said Rock. “And I’m still sort of processing what happened, so at some point I’m going to talk about it. And it’s going to be serious and it’s going to be funny, but now I’m going to tell a few jokes.”
Many are waiting to hear Rock’s thoughts on not only that Smith shocked him, but also if he had known about Pinkett Smith’s medical condition and the consequences of what was considered one of the most shocking moments in the history of the Academy Awards.
Others in Rock’s life were more outspoken.
Academic penalties
Days after the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it had “initiated disciplinary action” against Smith.
While the representative has already resigned from the academy, its president David Rubin said in a statement Friday that the group will “continue to proceed with our disciplinary action against Mr. Smith for violating the Academy’s standards of conduct, prior to the next scheduled board meeting on April 18.”
These actions can include permanent expulsion and anything else considered within the purview of the regulations and/or standards of conduct of the Academy.
CNN’s Chloe Millas and Brian Stelter contributed to this report.
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