Best actor Will Smith walked on stage and struck Chris Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”
He later apologised on stage.
“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to my all my fellow nominees,” he said during a tearful acceptance speech for best actor.
The star picked up the first Oscar of his career for playing the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face on stage at the Oscars after the comic made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” he said, in an apparent reference to her shaved hairdo – which is a result of the hair loss condition alopecia.
This story originally appeared on BBC news and is published here for educational purpose