EXCLUSIVE: Why Will Smith's Oscars Slapgate Scandal Is About to Haunt Him Again — 4 Years After He Launched Assault on Chris Rock
The major threat looming over his head.
Will Smith is discovering Hollywood has a long memory… as the fallout from his onstage assault at the Academy Awards is again threatening to derail his desperate attempts to re-establish himself as a bankable leading man.
Smith’s “Slapgate” shame unfolded in March 2022, when he struck Chris Rock, 60, live on stage at the Oscars after the comic joked about the shaved head of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, 54 – who suffers from alopecia.
The moment, broadcast worldwide, led to Smith being banned from Academy events for 10 years and triggered a sharp professional backlash that stalled his career.
Now, as Smith lines up new film and producing projects, sources say Rock is considering a memoir that could reopen the wound.