The 94th Academy Awards was not your run-of-the-mill ceremony, following the physical altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock on stage. Though it may have been a black eye on the Oscar event, Will Smith didn’t let it ruin his celebration after he won the Best Actor award for his performance as Richard Williams in King Richard. Attending a post-Oscar party hosted by Vanity Fair, the accomplished actor had himself a good time, enjoying the company of friends and even dancing and singing to his Grammy-award winning single “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.”
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Variety Executive Editor Ramin Setoodeh shared a video of Will Smith dancing to “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” to his Twitter account with the message, “Will Smith is at the #VanityFairOscarParty dancing with his Oscar to ‘Gettin Jiggy With It.’” Smith can clearly be seen holding his Oscar close while rhyming to his 1997 hit, which won the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. The other guests form a semi-circle around Smith as they take pictures and videos with their cellphones.
The controversial Oscar moment occurred on stage when comedian Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. Rock made a joke concerning Pinkett-Smith’s bald haircut, commenting that she was ready for a role in G.I. Jane 2. Pinkett-Smith has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. After initially laughing at the joke, Smith stepped up on stage and slapped Rock across the face, before returning to his seat. Smith then shouted from his seat, warning Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.
During his acceptance speech, Smith shared advice given to him by Denzel Washington in the moments following the incident, “At your highest moment be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you,” and apologized to the Academy and the other nominees, though not to Rock, who has not filed charges against Smith:
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family. In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who is one of the most strongest, most delicate people I’ve ever met.”
Smith continued, “I got to protect Saniyya [Sidney] and Demi [Singleton], the two actresses that played Venus and Serena. I’m being called on in my life to love people. And to protect people. And to be a river to my people. I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse, you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you. You gotta a smile, and you gotta pretend like that’s okay.
“I want to apologize to the Academy and I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees — this is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying about winning an award…it’s about being able to shine light.”
Photo credit Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty