Will Smith and Chris Rock ‘stunt’ shows just how the Oscars have become a farce

What a drama-filled Oscars it was the other night! On what was supposed to be Will Smith’s special night, the actor became the talking point after casually walking to the stage and giving presenter Chris Rock a warm klap.

Rock had moments earlier made a GI Jane joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. At first, Smith seemed to find the joke funny but on seeing his wife not taking kindly to the somewhat insensate joke, he lost it.

The 50-year-old Pinkett Smith has spoken before about her battle with alopecia, a medical condition where sufferers gradually lose their hair. Rock has rubbed people the wrong way with his sharp witticism before, but for him to be assaulted on such a platform – or any platform – was uncalled for.

How despicable for a man who is an idol and role model to millions of children around the world to resort to violence in front of millions of television viewers.

He later spewed profanities at the bemused Rock. The winner in the whole ugly episode is the little comedian who, after receiving the slap on his face, seemed dazed and stunned.

WATCH: Mayhem at the Oscars as Will Smith slaps Chris Rock onstage

He quipped: “Wow. Will Smith just smacked the sh*t out of me.”

While some on social media want us to believe this could be staged, it did not seem so. And, nonetheless, why choose a violent act as make-believe? Smith, who later returned to the stage to accept his best actor award, the most valued award in the movie industry and his first, did apologise. But the tearful apology was to “the Academy, my fellow nominees…”

Not once did he mention Rock, the man he humiliated moments earlier. The actor – who won for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of tennis sensations Venus and Serena – must be hauled over the coals and made to pay for his abhorrent behaviour.

This episode has shown how the once-prestigious event has become just a farce.