The moment Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars will always be unforgettable, and Will gets it. However, with another Oscars around the corner, Will Smith decided to remember that iconic moment in a subtle yet unimaginable way.
Swipe to see what we mean.
This week, before the anniversary of his assault on Chris Rock, Will Smith made a barely disguised joke about his Oscars slap in a new TikTok video.
The actor, 54, mocked the incident by participating in a TikTok trend that encourages users to inquire about the opinions of inanimate objects. Rock, 58, slapped the actor after he joked about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head.
In the original video, Sam Rossi, a Tiktoker with whom Smith engaged in a duet, says: "This works because everything has consciousness."
"You can pick up a pen and ask it how it sees you or what it thinks of you and you will get an answer in your mind from your intuition. You can ask your car what it thinks of you, you can even ask money what it thinks of you."
Before the clip ends, Smith, who won the Best Actor Oscar that night for his performance in King Richard, is seen accepting his award while frowning and mouthing a question.
Smith is the only person left on the screen when the duet ends. Although it appears that Smith will ask Oscar a question, the clip ends before Smith can find out what the gold statue thinks of him.
Smith doesn't mention the incident from a year ago, but he appears to be alluding to the significant moment when he slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's baldness.
The clip and the Oscars slap were immediately connected by viewers, with one writing.
"That’s the Will Smith that everybody loves. Keep pushing man, I support you."
"I’m glad you’re back! No more apologies PLEASE!"
On Monday, March 27, during the 94th Academy Awards, Will gave the now-famous Oscars slap. The comedians Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer emceed the annual event.
Rock, who was emceeing the program, made light of the fact that Smith's wife Jada had a bald head and thus resembled "G.I. Jane."
She had just recently admitted to having alopecia.
Will stormed the stage after being incensed by the jab and slapped Rock for making the joke.
Smith's shocking attack happened just before he won Best Actor for portraying the loving father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams in the movie King Richard.
Smith, who was sobbing, acknowledged in a rambling acceptance speech that "love makes you do crazy things," but, tellingly, he made no apologies to Rock for the assault.
However, he did express regret to the Academy and his fellow nominees.
Due to the incident, Will was prohibited from attending the Oscars for ten years. The 2022 Academy Awards were "overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage," they said.
"Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk," he said directly into the camera.
Smith noted that he has since reached out to Rock but the comedian was not ready.
Will has been putting a lot of effort into repairing his once spotless reputation by being open about that "horrific night" and acknowledging his mistakes.
However, Smith's announcement last month that he and Martin Lawrence will collaborate on Bad Boys 4 suggests that the fallout from the incident from the previous year has subsided.
Since the ceremony, Will has only made light of his Oscar victory on his recent TikTok.
It will be interesting to see how Jimmy Kimmel, the host of this year's Academy Awards, addresses the subject—or doesn't—as the 95th ceremony approaches.
