Will Smith revealed what Denzel Washington told him right after beating up Chris Rock at the Oscars.
During the ceremony, Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, while presenting an award.
“Jada, I love you. I can’t wait to see you in GI Jane 2,” Rock said, in apparent reference to Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
Last year, Pinkett Smith announced that she had shaved her head after being diagnosed with alopecia.
So, Smith walked onto the stage and punched Rockbefore returning to his seat and yelling, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”
Immediately afterwards, the fellow actors could be seen Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry talking to Smith, appearing to comfort him.
When Smith won Best Actor for King Richard 15 minutes laterreferenced advice Washington had just given him.
“I am called in my life to love people and protect people and be a river to my people,” Smith said. “I know, to do what we do, we have to be able to take abuse. You have to be able to make people talk crazy about you. In this business, you have to be able to make people disrespect you. You have to smile and pretend that’s okay.”
He then revealed what “Denzel told me a few minutes ago,” adding that Washington said: “‘In your greatest victories, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.'”
The Independent contacted Smith’s representatives for comment.
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Denzel Washington comforted Will Smith after he punched Chris Rock on stage
(AFP vía Getty Images)
Earlier at the ceremony, Regina Hall, who co-hosted the ceremony along with Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, poked fun at the marriage of Smith and Pinkett Smith. The couple could be seen laughing in response.
After the incident, a joke Rock made about Pinkett Smith at the 2016 Oscars resurfaced online.
Schumer, on the other hand, elicited a gasp from the crowd after a joke he made about Leonardo DiCaprio and his “girlfriends”.
The biggest winners of the evening were Dune and CODAand the latter won all three nominations for which it was submitted, including best picture.
The complete list of winners of the Oscars 2022 is here. The latest updates and reactions from the dramatic ceremony are hereand the most important talking points are found here.