Hindi malilimutan ang 94th Academy Awards o Oscars nitong Linggo ng gabi, Marso 27, dahil nasaksihan ng buong mundo ang panunugod at pananampal ni Will Smith kay Chris Rock sa mismong entablado.
Makikitang masayang nagbibiro si Rock at isa sa mga ito ay ang hitsura ng misis ni Smith na si Jada Pinkett Smith, na inihambing kay G. I. Jane. Makikitang nakikisabay at nakikitawa pa ang aktor sa mga banat ng komedyante, subalit maya-maya, bigla itong naglakad at pumanhik sa entablado, at sa pagkagulat ng lahat, biglang umigkas ang kaniyang kanang kamay at dumapo sa mukha ni Rock.
Halatang nayanig si Rock subalit 'the show must go on' wika nga.
"Wow!" biro pa ni Rock. "Will Smith just smacked the sh*t out of me.”
Nang bumalik sa upuan si Smith, binulyawan nito si Rock.
"Keep my wife's name out of your f*cking mouth!" galit na galit na saad ni Smith.
"I'm going to, okay?" tugon ni Rock.
Sa kabila nito, si Smith pa rin ang itinanghal na Best Actor para sa pelikulang 'King Richard'. Tinalo niya ang mga kapwa nominadong sina Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog), Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…Boom!) at Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth).
Sa acceptance speech nito, humingi siya ng paumanhin sa Academy at sa mga kapwa nito nominado dahil sa mga nangyari.
"I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees," emosyunal na pahayag ni Smith.
"This is a beautiful moment and I'm not crying for winning an award, it's not about winning an award for me… Art imitates life, I look like the crazy father. Love will make you do crazy things."
Sa pagpapatuloy pa ng Best Actor, "I know to be able to do what we do you gotta be able to take abuse, you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business you gotta have people disrespecting you and you gotta pretend that that's OK…Denzel (Washington) said to me a few minutes ago, 'At your highest moment, be careful, that's when the devil comes for you.'"
"I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena and the entire Williams family for entrusting me with your story. That's what I want to do. I want to be an ambassador of that kind of care and love and concern."
Patuloy pang ini-ugnay ni Smith ang kaniyang sarili sa ginampanang karakter sa pelikula na ikinapanalo niya bilang Best Actor.
"Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family. In this time in my life, in this moment I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis who is one the strongest, most delicate people I've ever met."
"I got to protect Saniyya and Demi, the two actresses that play Venus and Serena…I'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people."
"I wanna be a vessel of love. I wanna say thank you to Venus and Serena, I just hope they didn't see that on TV."
Samantala, wala pang balita kung nagkaayos na ba sina Will at Chris. Naglabas naman ng opisyal na pahayag ang Oscars tungkol dito, sa pamamagitan ng kanilang Twitter account.
"The Academy does not condone violence of any form," anila.
"Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world."
Marami naman sa mga netizen ang kumukuwestyon kung bakit ibinigay pa kay Smith ang award gayong hindi umano maganda ang inasal nito.
Wala pang update kung balak bang magsampa ni Rock ng kaso laban kay Smith.