Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock Leads to Wild Reactions From Sports Stars

Will Smith was the talk of the 2022 Oscars and not just because he won the award for Best Actor. The King Richard star slapped Chris Rock during the show. Smith was angry about the joke Rock made about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. When Smith slapped Rock, the thought was a skit was happening. However, when Smith yelled at Rock twice, the venue got silent. 

This happened 45 minutes before Smith earned the first Oscar of his career. He apologized to the Academy for the incident, but the Academy could punish the 53-year-old actor. "The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night's show," a statement read. "We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law."

After being criticized for earlier referencing the scandal in a coy way, Oscar producer Will Packer tweeted: "Black people have a defiant spirit of laughter when it comes to dealing with pain because there has been so much of it. I don't feel the need to elucidate that for you. But I also don't mind being transparent and say that this was a very painful moment for me. On many levels." Here's a look at sports stars reacting to Smith slapping Rock.