Will Smith freaks out at the Oscars: Wordless brat

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Oscar winner Smith: From rager to ambassador of love

Photo: Danny Moloshok / REUTERS

Before Oscar night, we suspected that the duel of the night would be Denzel vs. Will.

Who would win best actor, Denzel Washington or Will Smith?

Instead, "Chris vs. Will" was offered.

That came as a surprise, given that Smith wasn't nominated to play a boxer like he was 20 years ago when he starred in the role of Muhammad Ali.

But for the bio pic »King Richard«, in which he embodies the father of tennis sisters Venus and Serena Williams.

Smith was in the wrong movie on Oscar night.

He could have looked forward to a safe Oscar win alongside his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

But then Chris Rock took the stage to announce the winner for Best Documentary.

He glanced at Pinkett Smith, said he loved her and couldn't wait to see her in part two of The Jane Files, a 1997 film in which a shaven-headed Demi Moore plays a soldier.

Pinkett Smith suffers from hair loss due to illness.

You could see that tonight.

The actress looked annoyed to the side after Rock's remark and rolled her eyes, Smith initially managed a tortured smile.

A few moments later he got up from his seat, took a few steps forward and slapped Rock in the face.

He responded with a startled »Wow«.

In the hall and on the televisions, people wondered whether a silly joke could have been followed by a failed gag.

That the moment wasn't staged became clear when Smith sat back down and yelled twice, "Keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth." So, don't put my wife's name in your damn mouth.

In Hollywood films, the heroes may beat up or shoot people as they please, but using the word "fuck" is considered a capital offense.

When the show was broadcast in the US, the "fucking" was drowned out by a beeping sound.

The American viewers didn't notice that Smith said it even more emphatically the second time around.

In fact, Rock has made snide remarks about Smith and his wife before, including at the 2016 Academy Awards and on social media.

What he said was sometimes amusing, sometimes dull.

The long-standing dispute has now apparently escalated.

Personally, I have to admit that the moment Smith's hand slapped Rock's face filled me with a certain satisfaction.

I had one of the worst interviews of my life with Rock about 15 years ago.

At that time he met me with a most unpleasant mixture of arrogance and listlessness.

But of course it's not okay to hit someone.

Smith, who came into contact with battle raps early on as a musician, would have been credited with being able to verbally stomp rock into the ground.

But the bully that made Smith famous fell by the wayside that night.

It is part of the Oscars that as a nominee you have to listen to jokes that are at your own expense.

And that you pretend that you find them funny too.

You know beforehand that you need a thick skin.

The hosts of the shows, which Rock was a part of several years ago, are Hollywood jesters.

But of course it's different when your own wife is being mocked and it's about an illness.

Misunderstood chivalry?

Since former couples like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt or Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have been fighting in court, domestic violence has been a big issue in Hollywood.

Now, in front of the eyes of the world, a man became violent towards another man in order to protect his wife.

One can think of it as misunderstood chivalry.

In the acceptance speech he gave after winning the Oscar, Smith said the tennis father he embodied had also "bitterly" defended his family.

Overidentification with the role?

Sounds like an excuse.

Smith apologized in his speech and said he wanted to be an "ambassador" of love.

In his autobiography last year, he reported on how he optimized himself more and more and got his weaknesses under control.

In the book, he gives heaps of advice on how to get into that enviable state.

So now the tantrum and then the Oscar.

Perhaps none of this would have happened if the show's setting hadn't felt so familiar.

The way to the stage would then have been further, and Smith would have had more time to go into himself.

It looked like two boys were fighting in their local bar.

Everything a bit shabby.