The 94th rendition of the Academy Awards aired last night at 8 p.m. It was a night full of highs and lows, performances, awards, and jokes that did not land.

One of these jokes that may not have landed with the audience watching at home, but rather with a slap, was one about Will Smith’s wife.

Jada Pinkett Smith has a medical condition called Alopecia, which results in sudden hair loss. She started having this condition in 2018 and told a reporter that she was literally shaking with fear when she had handfuls of her hair during a shower. A year ago, she decided to shave her head.

Joking about medical conditions that a person cannot control can be a sore subject, and the Oscar’s should be focused on films and their casts and crews, rather than trying to get a laugh due to something sensitive like this. Then again I do not think anyone should bring their political opinions in as well, so maybe the Oscars are not completely for me.

Anyways, so when Chris Rock, stand up comedian and actor made the joke, “Can’t wait for G.I. Jane 2”, the results were shocking. At first Smith was laughing, and then through the camera shot we saw that his wife was not. It seemed that either it took him a minute to understand what Rock said, or he just figured he should stand up for his upset wife, so he went in motion.

I will admit, I was watching this live and when I heard this, I had no idea what it meant. Then before I knew it, I saw Smith walk on stage and slap Rock’s face. I thought it was a fake slap, and then foolishly thought some sound guy just messed up because the audio cut out. Then I learned what had actually happened.

In case you’re like me and had no idea what G. I. Jane even meant, it is a 1997 film about U.S. Navy Seals, and the joke comes into play because a character, Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil, gets a buzzcut and is given the nickname G. I. Jane, referring to G. I. Joe.

This film was from a long enough time ago that it really is not even relevant anymore and if I had to take a guess, I would think a couple celebrities pulled out their phones and Googled the film’s title.

At first everyone thought the slap was staged, until Will Smith got back to his seat and told Chris Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his (insert curse word here) mouth….twice. We of course did not hear this, but uncensored versions found their way to the internet in rapid speed.

I will admit, Rock handled that slap like a superstar. He kept it jovial and just moved on, though he probably should not have said that in the first place. Smith was also approached by fellow actors such as Denzel Washington and Bradley Cooper who rushed to comfort him afterwards.

Later on, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in King Richard. I was really hoping for Andrew Garfield to win for his musical role in tick tick….BOOM!, but the moment his name was announced I was on the edge of my seat seeing what he was going to say.

He apologized in an emotional speech saying that loves makes you do crazy things. Maybe one of these crazy things is the fresh prince of Bel-Air slapping the voice of the zebra, Marty, in Madagascar.