Did you catch all the dramatic moments during the 2023 Oscars? The 95th Annual Academy Awards featured red carpet mishaps, crazy celebrity interactions and more during the star-studded event on Sunday, March 12.
Among the most eye-catching incidents from the evening was when actor Hugh Grant seemingly rolled his eyes at Ashley Graham during his live interview with her. On top of that, Austin Butler seemingly avoided a question when asked where his girlfriend, Kaia Gerber, was that night.
One of the most shocking moments in Academy Awards history happened just last year when Will Smith walked on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock, who was presenting at the time, across the face.
“Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” the Saturday Night Live alum said, seemingly referring to her shaved head. Seconds later, Will stormed on stage and hit the comedian to which Chris exclaimed, “Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s—t out of me.”
The Aladdin actor returned to his seat and yelled, “Get my wife’s name out your f—king mouth.” He was later awarded an Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard.
Two weeks after the incident, in March 2022, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum was banned from attending all Academy events for 10 years, but they did not rescind his Oscar win.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences faced backlash for failing to intervene during the moment, which led the group to implement a “crisis team” for the 2023 ceremony.
“We’ve run many scenarios,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer told TIME Magazine in February 2023. “So, it is our hope that we will be prepared for anything that we may not anticipate right now but that we’re planning for just in case it does happen.”
He admitted that the slap heard round the world “opened our minds” to the “many things” that can go wrong during the live show.
“But these crisis plans — the crisis communication teams and structures we have in place — allow us to say this is the group that we have to gather very quickly,” the CEO continued. “This is how we all come together. This is the spokesperson. This will be the statement. And obviously depending on the specifics of the crisis, and let’s hope something doesn’t happen and we never have to use these, but we already have frameworks in place that we can modify.”
One week after the now-infamous slap, Will apologized to Chris via Instagram, writing, “I was out of line, and I was wrong. I am embarrassed, and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
While the comedian stayed hush-hush about the incident, he finally addressed the slap in his Netflix comedy special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, which premiered in March 2023.
“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” Chris said, before referring to Jada’s affair during her marriage to Will. “Everybody in the world called him a bitch. I tried to call the motherf—ker and give him my condolences, and he ain’t pick up for me. Everybody called that man a bitch. … And who does he hit? Me!”
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