Many fans were left shocked after Will Smith smacked comedian Chris Rock live on stage in the face at the Oscars last night.
The father-of-three has carved out a ‘nice guy’ of Hollywood image since his rise to fame in the Fresh Prince of Belair in the 90s.
The King Richard star struck the comic after he made a jibe about Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The drama unfolded when Chris joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut, quipping: “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2.”
Later on in the evening, Will won Best Actor and as he walked up to the stage he slapped the presenter, before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.”
The joke Chris made was a reference to the 1997 movie G.I Jane – which starred Demi Moore sporting a buzzcut similar to Jada’s.
Jada has previously opened up about her decision to shave her head, after suffering from alopecia.
But this wasn’t the first time Will has got into a feud with a fellow celebrity, in fact he’s had two pretty high profile beefs in the past which may have been forgotten about by fans until now.
And one with rapper Eminem, also originated from an awards ceremony.
Back in 1998, Will beat Eminem for Best Male Video at the MTV VMAS.
He took the crown for his hit Miami, beating Eminem’s iconic My Name Is.
When he won, Will said he’d never “had to curse” in any of his songs to collect an accolade.
(Image: Getty Images)
Eminem took it as a personal dig, seeing as the only other artists in the category were Lenny Kravitz and Ricky Martin (up for Fly Away and Livin’ la Vida Loca) who are both notable for their lack of swear words in songs.
The next year, Eminem got the award he’d missed out on, for The Real Slim Shady.
But it became apparent that he never forgot what was said.
Taking his award, the Marshall Mathers star said: “ Will Smith doesn’t have to cuss to sell records / Well, I do / So f*ck him. And f*ck you too.”
The Lose Yourself musician then mocked the Independence Day actor by referencing him in the music video for “Forgot About Dre.”
In one part of the film, the music stops and a supposedly drunk Eminem tells the reporter character: “Yeah, all I know is I’m upstairs and I’m listening to my Will Smith CD and I seen all these flames.”
Will hit back, and in his 2005 song Mr Nice Guy, he said: “Mr. Nice Guy, relationship advice guy…Light on the vices, priceless smile…Look at the eyes, got the look…Of a survivor, husband, father…Dissed by Eminem but didn’t bother him…Yup well he classy…Big Will just get another 20 mill’ walk right past E…I’ma nice guy why ya’ll harassing me, huh!”
(Image: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
(Image: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
And it doesn’t stop there!
Will also had a very high profile beef with his former co-star in the show that made his name.
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His on-set feud with the original Aunt Viv, Janet Hubert-Whitten, got so tense that the actress ended up being replaced.
She has since told TMZ she’d never consider a Fresh Prince reunion.
She said: “I’ve been in the business for 10 years and this snot-nosed punk comes along and gets a show.’
She added she’d “never do anything with an a**hole like Will Smith.”
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