Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock at Oscars causes international media eruption: 'Lowest point' ever at ceremony

Perhaps the most stunning – and awkward – moment in Oscars history on Sunday night has media across the world still buzzing.

By now, you've seen it – actor Will Smith strode on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock in the face after Rock made a "GI Jane" crack about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's short haircut. Lest anyone think it was a staged bit, a furious Smith – who was seen smiling at Rock's joke moments earlier – yelled at Rock to "keep my wife's name out of your f---ing mouth!" 

"The slap heard around the world," Fox News host Harris Faulkner described it on Monday.

Rock gamely went on with the show and awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary, but by then the media world was on fire. Smith took the stage shortly after when he won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as Richard Williams in "King Richard," and he tearfully alluded to the slap by saying "love will make you do crazy things." He apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees, although notably not to Rock himself.

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The bizarre situation has dominated media coverage ever since from the night, which was back to in-person after last year's Academy Awards were largely virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Smith was widely criticized for his outburst, with outlets and fellow celebrities condemning him for resorting to fisticuffs in defense of his wife. Others feared he had made life more dangerous for comedians who might avoid riskier or edgier material for fear of an audience member imitating Smith.

"What you saw on TV was a guy with real issues," radio host Howard Stern of Smith. "That’s crazy, that’s crazy when you can’t contain yourself."

International outlets offered stunned reactions as well, according to Deadline, with Michael Idato in the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia calling it the "lowest point" in Oscars history, The Telegraph‘s Robbie Collin in the United Kingdom calling it "shameful," and German critic Thomas Vedder of Die Welt knocking Smith's "archaic macho attitude."

Some outlets fumed that Smith's outburst had distracted from some of the historic female triumphs that night, including a rare victory by a woman for Best Director – Jane Campion for "The Power of the Dog" – and Sian Heder's "Coda" winning Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

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"But in the end a night of momentous achievements was overshadowed by an act of violence between two men," Sian Cain wrote for The Guardian.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said Smith had "stained" the greatest moment of his career and predicted he wouldn't live it down.

Conservative entertainment writer Christian Toto said the slap had at least livened the proceedings after groan-worthy jokes from hosts Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Regina Hall, who made predictable jabs aimed at Republicans.

"A bland, woke-obsessed showcase got rattled, and nothing was the same for a good half hour," he wrote. "The live event suddenly felt alive, for better and worse."

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Much of the coverage noted Jada Pinkett Smith has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. Some prominent politicians, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who also has alopecia, defended Smith on Twitter before deleting their remarks.

"It was not cool of Chris Rock to say that," CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas said Monday of his joke, although added jabs are part of the Oscars and the reaction by Smith was out of line.

NPR's Scott Simon said the joke was "mean" but Smith's invocation of love making him "do crazy things" was the language of an abuser.

"Insisting tearfully, ‘Love will make you do crazy things,’ is an ugly excuse, often invoked by abusers. But as someone unloved in Hollywood once said, 'When you're a star they let you do it,'" Simon tweeted, referring to former President Trump.

After weeks of news coverage dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the relatively low stakes of an Oscars moment that captured international attention was a change of pace. On that note, CNN's Sara Sidner said Smith hitting Rock was "disheartening and disappointing," but added she was embarrassed it was even in the news.

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"We've got inflation that is crushing families. We have millions of refugees who are running for their lives trying to find refuge … We've got Ukraine, which is literally on fire and being bombed," she said. "This was a moment that did not need to happen, and it's trending on Twitter instead of a thousand other things that are far more important."

In any event, the infamous moment where "La La Land" was incorrectly announced as the Best Picture winner instead of "Moonlight" in 2017 appears to have been topped.