Jake Paul offers to make Will Smith vs Chris Rock boxing match after Oscars 2022 incident

The Best Actor winner slapped the comedian on stage after taking exception to a joke that Rock had made about his wife

Alex Pattle
Combat Sports Correspondent
Monday 28 March 2022 09:26 BST
Comments
Moment Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Jake Paul has offered to organise a boxing match between Will Smith and Chris Rock after the Best Actor winner slapped the comedian at the 2022 Oscars ceremony.

Prior to winning the Best Actor award for his performance in King Richard, Smith stormed the stage at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre to slap Rock, who had joked about his fellow American’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who is also an actor.

YouTube star Paul, who is 5-0 as a professional boxer, was quick to react to the incident, writing on Twitter: “Someone get me on the phone with Will Smiths boxing representative asap.

“I got $15m for Will Smith and $15m for Chris Rock ready to go Let’s do it in August on my undercard.”

Paul also wrote, “Nah this is crazy ahah,” in response to a tweet that had compared his knockout of former UFC champion Tyron Woodley to Smith’s slap of Rock.

In an apparent reference to Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, Rock had quipped: “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you.” Pinkett Smith – who announced last year that she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia – could be seen in the audience together with her husband, rolling her eyes at the joke.

After Rock’s comment, Smith stood up and proceeded to walk towards the stage. “Uh oh...” Rock was heard uttering. Smith then proceeded to hit Rock before walking off stage back to his seat. “Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,” said Rock, looking visibly shocked at the moment.

Smith was then heard yelling: “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth,” to which Rock replied: “Wow... dude. It was a GI Jane joke.”

“Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth,” Smith yells again. “I’m going to...” replied the comedian, who appeared flustered at the interaction. “That was the greatest night in the history of television,” Rock said, before going on to present the award for Best Documentary.

Paul was not the only personality in the fight game to react to the incident, with UFC president Dana White tweeting: “FINALLY!!!!! there’s an #Oscars show worth watching. AND @chrisrock has a chin.”

Meanwhile, UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou tweeted a meme that featured a picture of Smith slapping Rock under the caption, “Yeah, but Ngannou has no wrestli– [wrestling].”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in