BBC Breakfast presenters Jon Kay and Sally Nugent couldn’t contain their confusion as they watched the aftermath of Will Smith’s Oscars 2022 incident unfold, as he appeared to ‘punch the air’.
Will made headlines after storming on stage and smacking presenter Chris Rock across the face after he made a joke aimed at Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
He suggested Jada – who has alopecia – will star in the next G.I. Jane movie.
Once seated again, Will yelled at him to: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
But it was at the Vanity Fair afterparty where Will appeared on the red carpet to ‘punch the air’ with his Oscar, after winning Best Actor for his flick King Richard.
The BBC Breakfast presenters were left confused as they chatted to Hollywood correspondent Sophie Long live at the party, with footage from the afterparty.
While smiling for the cameras, Will clutched his Oscar high in the air before snuggling closer to Jada for pictures.
Sally commented on the footage: “That is the man of the moment, that is Will Smith holding his Oscar. You can see his wife Jada with him. It’s live from Beverly Hills, they are walking into the Vanity Fair post-Oscars party, that is the big famous party that everybody goes to.”
Jon chipped in: “There was a lot of speculation over would he turn up after what happened in the ceremony? Would he brave more possible questions from the media?”
He then added: “Big smiles for the photographs, but the sound is very different because there’s only one thing people are going to want to talk to him about. But he’s doing the full Hollywood smile and just ignoring them!”
Sally then said: “That’s the big family photograph he wants […] he finally wins his Oscar after years of trying. That’s his moment.”
“And yet the moment people are going to be talking about isn’t the Oscar in his hand, but about the punch or the slap that was thrown moments before he collected his prize,” Jon pointed out.
Later, Will could be seen open-mouthed as he cheered while holding his gong aloft, with Jon adding: “He’s getting cheers there, he’s punching the air with his Oscar!”
And Jon didn’t appear to be on Will’s side later in the conversation, as he and Sally chatted to Arts Correspondent David Sillito about the incident.
David said: “That speech, we’ve only shown a part of it here, was extraordinary. It went on and on and on.
“There were tears streaming down his face and he was standing up there, justifying the fact that he just struck another man on live television.
“He talked about himself being a vessel of love and protecting his family, and he did apologise but to the academy and his fellow nominees but not to Chris Rock,” he pointed out.
Jon then interjected: “There are some people […] saying they can understand why he felt a need to stand up for his wife, but there will be people who will be really, really angry – especially when they see these pictures of him arriving at the party this morning all smiles, posing with his Oscar as if this didn’t happen!”
David agreed: “He assaulted a man in front of everybody there.”
It has since been confirmed that Will will not be met with police charges after Chris refused to file them.
BBC Breakfast airs daily from 6am on BBC One.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk