What you didn’t see after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock

It was the slap seen all over the world.

However nobody on the Dolby Theatre thought Will Smith truly meant to hit Chris Rock for making a joke about his spouse on the Oscars, till Rock mentioned out loud, “Will Smith simply smacked the s–t out of me.”

Although ABC chiefs reduce the sound when Smith ran on stage, the viewers may clearly hear Smith shouting after he returned to his seat, “Hold my spouse’s identify out of your f—ing mouth!”

“We thought it was a bit,” mentioned one Hollywood insider. “Then we heard Will yelling. You heard it so loudly within the theater.”

One other Hollywood insider advised how she watched the chaos from the inexperienced room. “All of a sudden everybody froze and the entire place was, like, what the f—ok occurred?”

The insider advised how Smith’s longtime publicist Meredith O’Sullivan Wasson, Academy CEO Daybreak Hudson, Oscars producer Will Packer and Academy president David Rubin then walked into a non-public room “in a short time…with nice seriousness.”

“There was a way that one thing was incorrect with Will,” mentioned the insider. “I heard Chris’ supervisor, Jason Weinberg say, ‘I’ve bought to cope with the LAPD now. I’ve to seek out out what’s going on,’ then he walked out.

“Everyone was saying, ‘Holy s—t.’ Even the bartenders. The gravitas was not misplaced on anybody. There have been individuals saying, ‘Oh, my god, poor Chris.’ Individuals have been questioning if Chris’s face was purple as a result of he was flush or as a result of he was hit.”

Footage proper after the slap present Rock on stage speaking to a seated Smith as if attempting to make peace, however a supply who is aware of the comic mentioned he wasn’t making an attempt an apology. Relatively, he was saying, “Whoa, whoa, OK, I hear you. I’m simply right here to provide out the Oscar,” the supply mentioned.

“How does that learn as an apology?” the supply added. “He was the one who was assaulted stay. The truth that the man continued be so cool after this assault, he deserves an Oscar.”

Rock was “shaken” as he walked off stage to fulfill with producers and members of the LAPD, the supply continued.

“When he bought off stage, he was a bit shaken. He was taken right into a facet room and talked to producers and LAPD. Then he went to the writers’ room and spoke to his guys and left. I imply, these are guys he has labored with for years. Nobody thought there have been any points with the jokes.

“If something, Regina Corridor’s joke about Will and Jada earlier within the night (which hinted at their open marriage) was in approach worse style,” the supply mentioned, whereas including that Rock didn’t have a mark on his face from the slap.

Throughout this awards season, Smith, 53, and his 50-year-old spouse have repeatedly been the butt of jokes about their marital standing, and a few have speculated that Rock’s barb — “Jada, ‘GI Jane 2,’ I can’t wait to see it,” referring to her bald head — might need been the final straw. Filmmaker Judd Apatow surmised, in a now-deleted Twitter submit that Smith “may have killed [Rock]. That’s pure uncontrolled rage and violence. [Jada and Will have] heard one million jokes about them within the final three many years. They’re not freshmen on the earth of Hollywood and comedy. He misplaced his thoughts.”

The Wall Avenue Journal reported that Rock’s joke wasn’t on the teleprompter nor was it practiced in rehearsal. In the meantime, Rock reportedly didn’t know that Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss.

After the slap, LAPD officers requested Rock if he wished to press fees in opposition to Smith. “Chris mentioned no and left quickly after. He was shocked and shook,” mentioned the supply.

Again within the theater, it was Smith’s nice mentor — and now fellow Oscar winner Denzel Washington — who came to visit to his desk first to supply phrases of knowledge. As Smith later revealed in his acceptance speech for Best Actor later that night: “Denzel mentioned to me just a few moments in the past, he mentioned, ‘At your highest second, watch out, that’s when the satan comes for you’.”

Throughout the business breaks, film mogul Tyler Perry and actor Bradley Cooper additionally tried to calm Smith down. Fellow nominee Nicole Kidman was seen giving Smith a hug.

“He was wiping his eyes of tears, he knew it was not good,” mentioned Hollywood Reporter awards columnist Scott Feinberg on his podcast, “The City,” about Smith within the aftermath.

In the meantime, it was clear that Smith wouldn’t be leaving the ceremony. “Everyone began to appreciate ‘Oh my God, he’s going to get again up there,’ they didn’t escort him out,” mentioned Matt Belloni, the previous editor of the Hollywood Reporter on the podcast.

Music magnate Diddy tried to clean issues over on stage as he appeared to introduce a fiftieth anniversary tribute of “The Godfather.”

“OK, Will and Chris, we’re going to resolve that like household on the Gold Occasion, OK?” referring to the Oscars afterparty hosted by Jay-Z and Beyoncé. “However proper now we’re transferring on with love. Everyone make some noise!”

The backstage business supply mentioned: “Diddy was minutes from getting on stage when the slap occurred. He was attempting to remain within the second and rehearse his script.

“He wished to thank Will Packer and Shayla Cowan for an unimaginable present, because the first-time black producers, and to thank the hosts. However he wished to raise up the room, present Will and Chris they’re household and produce them again collectively. He went as much as Chris backstage and gave him a hug, that they had a non-public dialog and went to Will in his seat and hugged him too.”

“How and in the event that they resolved it’s as much as them — to him, his intention was to deliver like to them and say just a few phrases of encouragement and be part of that.”

Smith’s rep O’Sullivan Wasson was additionally seen throughout each business break at her consumer’s facet speaking to him quietly till the Greatest Actor class was introduced about 40 minutes after the slap. It’s believed she helped Smith rewrite his acceptance speech, wherein he apologized to the Academy however to not Rock personally for his second of rage.

As anticipated, Smith received his first Oscar for taking part in Richard Williams, the daddy of tennis legends Serena and Venus, within the film “King Richard.” He kissed his spouse and bounded up on stage.

Regardless of his act of violence, the gang gave him a standing ovation, though Belloni mentioned that some individuals in his row refused to clap.

As an alternative of going to the press room after his win, as is the norm, Smith returned to his seat, the place he held fingers along with his spouse. In the meantime, his “King Richard” co-star Aunjanue Ellis sat subsequent to him and positioned her hand on his arm, as all three watched “CODA” win Greatest Image.

Smith, who can be a musician born in West Philadelphia, was later seen along with his total household, together with children Trey, 29, Jaden, 23, and Willow, 21, on the swanky Self-importance Truthful occasion, dancing to his own hits together with “Gettin Jiggy With It.” Earlier than the present, he and Baltimore-born Jada had posted an image of themselves to Instagram wanting powerful. After the present, Smith added a comment: “You’ll be able to’t invite individuals from Philly or Baltimore nowhere.”

In the meantime, Rock, 57, headed over to the annual Oscars occasion hosted by his pal, multi-millionaire supervisor Man Oseary.

“He’s OK, he went to be along with his finest pal,” mentioned the supply who is aware of Rock. “Backside line — you don’t hit individuals, it was a joke.”

True to his character, the Los Angeles Occasions reported that Rock additionally made a joke in regards to the slap. Backstage, the comedian mentioned, he “simply bought punched within the face by Muhammad Ali and didn’t get a scratch.”

By Monday afternoon, Smith had lastly apologized to Rock on Instagram. “I want to publicly apologize to you, Chris,” he wrote. “I used to be out of line and I used to be incorrect. I’m embarrassed and my actions weren’t indicative of the person I wish to be. There isn’t a place for violence in a world of affection and kindness.”