The 2022 Academy Awards were meant to be a return to post-pandemic normality — to their traditional home at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater, and a March date, following a COVID-postponed edition at Union Station last April. It was also seen as an opportunity for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate the reforms it had made in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, with a dramatically different membership making one of the most diverse lists of nominees in the world. history produced. Hollywood’s top prize.
Then came the blow. Suddenly nothing else mattered.
Millions watched in real time as Will Smith — an overwhelming favorite to win for his performance in “King Richard” later that night — stormed the Oscars stage to confront Chris Rock after the comic told one too many jokes about his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith. In the process, the lead actor award, and just about every other award that followed the altercation, became an afterthought.
A year on, the Slap has become more than just a stunning scene from the 2022 Oscars. It’s forever etched in the annals of popular culture, propelled by relentless social media debate about all aspects of the event.
The Slap continues to resonate – with fans of Smith and Rock, with the entertainment industry, with journalists searching for the meaning of it all, with Smith and Rock themselves. What is the Slap saying about America right now as we approach the 2023 Academy Awards?
“’The Slap’: One Year Later” takes an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at that moment, through the eyes of Los Angeles Times journalists covering the 2022 Academy Awards and cultural critics trying to understand Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock on television.
